Section 22 protection requires BIFR records; a bare claim of sickness is insufficient to invalidate an electricity demand.

Protection under section 22 is not available on a bare assertion that an industrial unit is sick; the claimant must produce the BIFR order and related proceedings to establish sickness and the relevant dates for inquiry and determination. Without those documents, the Court cannot examine entitlement to the statutory bar on facts, and the plea remains unsupported. On the record described, the petitioner failed to prove that section 22 applied, and the challenge to the electricity demand was rejected.

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Issues: Whether the petitioner could claim protection under section 22 on the basis of a bare assertion that its unit had become a sick industrial company, without producing the BIFR order or related proceedings, so as to invalidate the electricity demand.

Analysis: Protection under section 22 is not attracted merely because a party pleads that it is a sick unit. The party seeking the statutory benefit must place before the Court the relevant BIFR material, including the order declaring sickness and the dates relevant to registration, commencement of inquiry, and final determination, so that entitlement to the protection can be examined on facts. In the absence of any document relating to the BIFR proceedings, the plea remained unsupported and could not be accepted.

Conclusion: The petitioner failed to establish entitlement to protection under section 22, and the challenge to the demand was rejected.

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