Complete Supreme Court Yearly Digest Part-6

ElectricityElectricity - A basic amenity of which a person cannot be deprived - Electricity cannot be declined to a tenant on the ground of failure/refusal of the landlord to issue no objection certificate. All that the electricity supply authority is required to examine is whether the applicant for electricity connection is in occupation of the premises in question. Dilip v. Satish, 2022 LiveLaw (SC) 570Electricity - Appeal against High Court judgment which quashed FIR lodged by landlord against tenant alleging that he forged signature in a No objection certificate submitted before Electricity Board - Allowed - Completely overlooked the definition of cheating in Section 415 IPC- It cannot be said that fabrication and/or creation of records and/or forging a signature does not constitute an offence under the Indian Penal Code. Dilip v. Satish, 2022 LiveLaw (SC) 570Electricity Act, 2003Electricity Act, 2003 - The Appropriate State Commissions possess the power to determine and regulate tariff. The Electricity Act 2003 seeks to distance the State Governments from the determination and regulation of tariff, placing such power completely within the ambit of the Appropriate Commissions - States have sufficient flexibility to regulate the intra-state transmission systems. (Para 128) TATA Power Company Limited Transmission v. Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission, 2022 LiveLaw (SC) 987Section 2(8) - “Captive generating plant”Electricity Act, 2003; Section 2(8), 2(49), 9, 42 - Even an association of corporate bodies can establish a captive power plant. The only requirement would be that the said plant must be established primarily for their own use. (Para 16) Chhattisgarh State Power Distribution Company Ltd. v. Chhattisgarh State Electricity Regulatory Commission, 2022 LiveLaw (SC) 478 : AIR 2022 SC 2904Section 9 - Captive GenerationElectricity Act, 2003; Section 9 - National Electricity Policy, 2005 - The provision with respect to establishing captive power plant has been made with a view to not only securing reliable, quality and cost effective power but also to facilitate creation of employment opportunities through speedy and efficient growth of industry - A liberal provision has been made in Section 9 of the said Act so as to promote establishment of captive power plants. (Para 21-23) Chhattisgarh State Power Distribution Company Ltd. v. Chhattisgarh State Electricity Regulatory Commission, 2022 LiveLaw (SC) 478 : AIR 2022 SC 2904Section 64 - Procedure for tariff orderElectricity Act, 2003; Section 64 - It is not permissible to amend the tariff order made under Section 64 during the 'truing up' exercise - 'Truing up' exercise cannot be done to retrospectively change the methodology/principles of tariff determination and reopening the original tariff determination order thereby setting the tariff determination process to a naught at 'trueup' stage - A tariff order is quasi - judicial in nature which becomes final and binding on the parties unless it is amended or revoked under Section 64(6) or set aside by the Appellate Authority - At at the stage of 'truing up', the DERC cannot change the rules/methodology used in the initial tariff determination by changing the basic principles, premises and issues involved in the initial projection of ARR. (Para 51-54) BSES Rajdhani Power Ltd. v. Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission, 2022 LiveLaw (SC) 857 : 2022 (15) SCALE 588Section 61 - Tariff RegulationsElectricity Act, 2003; Sections 61 - 63 - Electricity Act do not prescribe one dominant method to determine tariff. Section 63 operates after the bidding process has been conducted. Where the tariff has already been determined through bidding, the Appropriate Commission has to adopt such tariff that has been determined. The Appropriate Commission cannot negate such tariff determined through bidding by using its powers under Section 62. The tariff determined through the bidding process may not be adopted by the Appropriate Commission only if the bidding process was not transparent (undertaking a substantive review) or the procedure prescribed by the Central Government guidelines under Section 63 was not followed (undertaking a procedural review)- Sections 62 and 63 stipulate the modalities of tariff determination. The non-obstante clause in Section 63 cannot be interpreted to mean that Section 63 would take precedence over Section 62 at the stage of choosing the modality to determine tariff. The criteria or guidelines for the determination of the modality of tariff determination ought to be notified by the Appropriate State Commission either through regulations under Section 181 of the Act or guidelines under Section 61 of the Act. (Para 128) TATA Power Company Limited Transmission v. Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission, 2022 LiveLaw (SC) 987Section 86 - Functions of State CommissionElectricity Act, 2003; Section 86(1)(a) - MERC while exercising its general regulatory powers under Section 86(1)(a)...

Complete Supreme Court Yearly Digest Part-6

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