Tariff determination and judicial restraint: expert regulatory findings upheld where no unreasonable or unjustified basis was shown.

Tariff fixation under the regulatory statute involves technical and factual assessments in law, engineering, finance, commerce, economics and management. Because the regulatory commission is constituted as an expert body for such determinations, appellate interference is limited unless the conclusions are shown to be unreasonable or unjustified. On the material considered, the impugned tariff orders were found to have been made in a just and proper manner, and no ground for interference was established. The Court therefore declined to interfere and upheld the tariff determination.

---

---

Issues: Whether the Court should interfere with the tariff determination made by the expert regulatory body in view of the technical and factual nature of the issues involved.

Analysis: Tariff fixation under the regulatory statute involves highly technical questions of law, engineering, finance, commerce, economics, and management. The regulatory commission is constituted as an expert body to undertake such determination, and the appellate forum is expected to show restraint where the conclusions reached on technical and factual matters are not shown to be unreasonable or unjustified. In the present appeals, the impugned orders on tariff were found to have been arrived at in a just and proper manner, and no ground for appellate interference was made out.

Conclusion: The Court declined to interfere with the tariff determination and upheld the impugned orders.

---