Private residential premises test excludes company guest houses used only temporarily by visiting employees.

The SC held that guest houses maintained by a company for employees visiting temporarily are not premises "exclusively used as a private residential premises" for tariff purposes under Section 3(1) of the Bombay Electricity Duty Act, 1958. The expression was construed according to its natural and ordinary meaning, requiring private residential use for a sufficiently continued period. The fact that the guest house was not run for profit, or that "private" was opposed to "public", was treated as irrelevant to classification. Such premises therefore fall outside Category 'R' and are subject to the tariff applicable to Category 'C'.

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Issues: Whether guest houses maintained by a company or commercial undertaking for use by its employees can be treated as premises exclusively used as a private residential premises and therefore fall within Category 'R' of the electricity tariff.

Analysis: The applicable tariff under Section 3(1) of the Bombay Electricity Duty Act, 1958 had to be construed according to the natural and ordinary meaning of the words used. The expression "exclusively used as a private residential premises" requires premises used privately as a residence for a sufficiently continued period. A guest house maintained by a company for employees who stay only temporarily when visiting the city does not answer that description. The reasoning that the guest house was not run for profit or that "private" meant opposed to "public" was held to be irrelevant to the tariff classification.

Conclusion: Such guest houses do not fall within Category 'R' and cannot be treated as premises exclusively used as private residential premises; they are outside that category and the tariff applicable to Category 'C' applies.

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