TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2012 (11) TMI 406
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.... is" basis. b) The sale was confirmed in favour of respondent No.1 - M/s Raghunath Paper Mills Pvt. Ltd., being the highest bidder, and the possession of the Unit was handed over on 28.03.2008. Since there was no power supply, respondent No.1 made an application to the Chief Executive Officer, North Eastern Electricity Supply Company of Orissa Limited (in short " the NESCO") for restoration of the same. Respondent No. 1 also executed an agreement dated 27.03.2009 with the NESCO for supply of construction power in the Unit. There being no reply from the side of the NESCO, respondent No.1, vide letter dated 26.08.2009, again requested for permanent supply of power. By letter dated 21.05.2010, the NESCO directed respondent No.1 to pay the arrears of electricity dues amounting to Rs. 79,02,262/- outstanding against the premises in question. c) Being aggrieved, respondent No.1 filed a petition being Writ Petition (C) No. 9807 of 2010 before the High Court of Orissa praying for quashing of the demand letter dated 21.05.2010 issued by the NESCO with a direction to provide permanent supply of power. d) Learned single Judge, by order dated 05.08.2010, after considering various prov....
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.... Plot No.N-1/22, Nayapalli, Bhubaneswar-751 012, Orissa No. FC/CO/238 12595(3) Dated: 21.05.2010 To By Regd. Post The Director M/s Raghunath Paper Mill (P) Ltd. At-Jharia, Rupsa Basta, Dist. Balasore Sub:- Payment of arrear electricity dues amounting to Rs. 79,02,262/- against the premises. Ref: Your Letter No. Nil dated 13.01.2010 Sir, With reference to the subject cited above, you are requested to pay the arrear electricity dues amounting to Rs. 79,02,262/- outstanding against the premises to which you intend to avail power. On clearance of arrear electricity dues, necessary permission letter for providing power supply shall be issued in your favour. Please arrange to pay the above arrear immediately for necessary action regarding power connection to your unit. Yours faithfully Sd/- Special Officer (Commerce) CC to EE, BTED, Basta for information and necessary action. CC to SEEC, Balasore for information and necessary action" 8) It is not in dispute that respondent No. 1 has purchased the said unit from the Official Liquidator in pursuance of....
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....) Transfer of service connection:- a) Subject to the Regulation 8, the transfer of service connection shall be effected within 15 days from the date of receipt of complete application. b) The service connection from the name of a person to the name of another consumer shall not be transferred unless the arrear charges pending against the previous occupier are cleared. Provided that this shall not be applicable when the ownership of the premises is transferred under the provisions of the State Financial Corporation Act." 11) It is the case of the appellant that as per the above provision, viz., sub-clause 10(b) of Regulation 13 of the Electricity Supply Code, unless respondent No. 1 pays the arrears of electricity dues against the erstwhile company, electricity supply cannot be restored to its Unit. We are of the view that the reading of the above sub-clause makes it clear that the said provision is not applicable to respondent No. 1. We have already quoted that respondent No. 1, after purchase of the said Unit in an auction sale conducted by the Official Liquidator on "as is where is" and "whatever there is" basis has applied for a fresh service con....
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....lation 10. 15) As rightly pointed out by Mr. P.P. Rao, learned senior counsel for respondent No. 1, the absence of these words in para 3 conclusively shows that the term "other dues" refers to security and other charges payable for a new connection in terms of the conditions of supply but not the arrears of electricity dues payable by earlier consumer who was in default. 16) In Isha Marbles vs. Bihar State Electricity Board and Another (1995) 2 SCC 648, a three-Judge Bench of this Court had an occasion to consider a similar question, viz., whether the auction-purchaser is liable to meet the liability of old consumer of electricity to the premises which is purchased by him in the auction sale from Bihar State Financial Corporation under Section 29(1) of the State Financial Corporations Act, 1951. After considering relevant provisions of the Electricity Act and the Regulations, this Court held as under:- "56. From the above it is clear that the High Court has chosen to construe Section 24 of the Electricity Act correctly. There is no charge over the property. Where that premises comes to be owned or occupied by the auction-purchaser, when such purchaser seeks supply of electric....
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....ute a "charge" on the premises. A purchaser of a premises, cannot be foisted with the electricity dues of any previous occupant, merely because he happens to be the current owner of the premises. The supplier can therefore neither file a suit nor initiate revenue recovery proceedings against a purchaser of a premises for the outstanding electricity dues of the vendor of the premises in the absence of any contract to the contrary. Learned counsel for the appellant heavily relied on para 10 of the very same judgment which reads as under:- 10. But the above legal position is not of any practical help to a purchaser of premises. When the purchaser of a premises approaches the distributor seeking a fresh electricity connection to its premises for supply of electricity, the distributor can stipulate the terms subject to which it would supply electricity. It can stipulate as one of the conditions for supply, that the arrears due in regard to the supply of electricity made to the premises when it was in the occupation of the previous owner/occupant, should be cleared before the electricity supply is restored to the premises or a fresh connection is provided to the premises. If....