Bombay High Court Validates Only Residential Electricity Tariff On Lawyer Despite Using Residential Space As Office
The Bombay High Court upheld a consumer forum's order, which ruled that only a residential electricity tariff should be applied to a lawyer's residence, even if the lawyer uses the residential space as an office. The Petitioner had filed a Writ Petition under Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution of India to challenge the legality and validity of an order issued by the Consumer Grievances Redressal Forum. The impugned order directed the Petitioner to issue a bill to the Respondent based on residential tariff rates.
A Bench of Justice Madhav J. Jamdar held that, “Admittedly, the Respondent is professional lawyer and the premises are situated in residential building and the user of the premises as per sanctioned plan is also residential. Therefore, there is no illegality or perversity in the impugned order.”
The basis for the impugned order was a Commercial Circular which specified the applicability of a particular tariff category for electricity usage at Low/Medium Voltage in certain premises, including residential premises used by professionals like Lawyers, Doctors, Engineers, Chartered Accountants, etc., for their professional activities, excluding Nursing Homes and Hospitals.
Advocate Rahul Sinha appeared for the Petitioner and Senior Advocate N.V. Bandiwadekar appeared for the Respondent.
The Petitioner contended that it's an office, while the Respondent argued that it was residential but also used for professional purposes.
The issue before the Court was whether the premises in question, where the Respondent conducted professional activities as a lawyer, should be classified as residential or office space. The Court noted that the premises were situated in a residential building, and the sanctioned plan designated them as residential.
Considering the facts, the Court found that there was no illegality or perversity in the impugned order. As a result, the Writ Petition was dismissed, and no costs were imposed.
Cause Title: Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Co. Limited v. Shriniwas Shivram Odhekar, [2023:BHC-AS:26739]
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