Civil court jurisdiction over electricity supply dispute depends on statutory scheme, owner consent, and clean hands principles.

A dispute over electricity supply in tenanted premises raised whether a civil suit for declaration and injunction was maintainable. The High Court noted that, under the statutory scheme governing accommodation control and electricity supply, the occupant could not assert an independent right to electricity connection without the owner's consent, especially where tenant status had already been negatived by the Rent Controlling Authority. It also relied on the plaintiff's concealment of material facts, including the pending tenancy dispute, applying the clean hands principle. On that basis, the court treated the jurisdictional objection as capable of being decided at the threshold and held the civil court lacked jurisdiction to grant the relief claimed.

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Issues: Whether the civil court had jurisdiction to entertain the suit for declaration and injunction in relation to electricity supply, and whether dismissal of the suit was illegal.

Analysis: The suit arose out of a dispute over electricity connection in a tenement occupied by the plaintiff and her husband, but the plaintiff had earlier been denied tenant status by the Rent Controlling Authority. The Court held that, in view of the statutory scheme governing accommodation control and supply of electricity, the plaintiff could not claim an independent right to electricity supply without the owner's consent. It further found that the plaintiff had concealed material facts from the trial court, including the pending tenancy dispute and the adverse order of the Rent Controlling Authority. The Court applied the principle that a litigant seeking equitable relief must come with clean hands and that a preliminary objection to jurisdiction may be decided at the threshold.

Conclusion: The civil court lacked jurisdiction to grant the relief claimed, and the dismissal of the suit and confirmation of that dismissal in appeal were held to be lawful. The appeal was therefore liable to fail.

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