Electricity Act | Consumer Must Prove Time Of Actual Commencement Of Unauthorised Consumption If He Disagrees With Assessment: Kerala HC
|The Kerala High Court observed that if a consumer has disagreement with the assessment made for a period of twelve months prior to the date of inspection it is incumbent on the consumer to prove the point of time of actual commencement of unauthorised consumption.
The bench of Chief Justice Nitin Jamdar and Justice S Manu observed, “if a consumer has a disagreement with assessment made for a period of twelve months prior to the date of inspection, it is incumbent on the consumer to prove the point of time of actual commencement of unauthorised consumption.”
Senior Advocate PB Krishnan appeared for the Appellant and Advocate B Premod appeared for the Respondent.
Brief Facts-
The Appellant, a registered society, was billed Rs. 13.49L after an inspection by the authorities found an unauthorised additional electrical load. The Appellant contested the bill, and the Kerala State Electricity Appellate Authority limited the assessment period and ordered a revised bill under a different tariff. However, the Electricity Board challenged the order, citing Section 126(5) of the Electricity Act, which mandates a 12-month assessment when unauthorised use duration is unclear. The High Court restored the original assessment. Hence, the present Writ Appeal.
The Court perused Section 126 (5) of the Electricity Act, 2003 and observed, “Assessment, as per the provision shall be made for the actual period in cases of situations falling under situation (i) as above; and in cases under situation (ii), the assessment shall be limited for a period of twelve months immediately preceding the date of inspection. Therefore, the crucial factual aspect to be ascertained for the purpose of assessment is the point of time from which unauthorised use of electricity has taken place. If the said point of time is indistinct or unascertainable, only option under law is to make assessment for a period of twelve months preceding the date of inspection.”
The Court noted that unless any firm factual finding in the order of the Appellate Authority regarding the point of time of commencement of unauthorised use of electricity by the appellant was ascertained and a finding regarding the same was entered into, the Appellate Authority could not have exercised its appellate powers to interfere with the period of assessment as per the final assessment order.
The Court said, “Merely for the reason that the Appellant submitted an application for additional load on a particular date, it cannot be presumed that the unauthorised consumption commenced only from that date.”
Accordingly, the Court dismissed the Appeal.