Research › Search › Judgment

Telangana High Court · body

2020 DIGILAW 128 (TS)

Suguna Metals Pvt. Ltd. v. State of Telangana

2020-01-29

ABHINAND KUMAR SHAVILI

body2020
ORDER : Abhinand Kumar Shavili, J. 1. Heard learned counsel for the petitioner, Sri J. Aswin Kumar, learned Standing Counsel for Telangana State Electricity Regulatory Commission appearing for respondent No. 2 and Sri R. Vinod Reddy, learned Standing counsel for DISCOM appearing for respondent Nos. 3 to 6. 2. The petitioner challenges the order dated 06.11.2019 passed by the respondent No. 2 in I.A. No. 3 of 2019 in O.P. Nos. 21 and 22 of 2017. 3. Various contentions have been raised by the learned counsel for the petitioner, particularly with respect to the maintainability of I.A. No. 3 of 2019. 4. Learned Standing counsel for respondent No. 2 placed before this Court common order dated 22.03.2019 passed by this Court in W.P. No. 32313 of 2015 and batch and would submit that in the said common order, this Court held that without any determination by the Regulatory Commission, with regard to the request of ETSCOM to levy cross subsidy surcharge, DISCOM is entitled to collect tariff and other charges and Section 42 of the Electricity Act (for short 'the Act') vests such power in DISCOM. 5. Considering the scope and duties vested in DISCOM and ERC under Section 62 read with Section 86 of the Act, this Court is unable to agree with the sweeping observations made by this Court in the aforesaid common order that DISCOM is entitled to collect the charges without there being determination by the Regulatory Commission. The said observations were contrary to the scheme of the Act. 6. It may be noted that Section 62 of the Act empowers the Regulatory Commission to fix tariff/charges read with Section 96(1)(a) of the Act. It may also be noted that as against the aforesaid common order, W.A. No. 537 of 2019 is filed and pending. 7. At this stage, as the petitioner is agreeable to pay the amounts as determined by the Regulatory Commission, in I.A. No. 3 of 2019, without prejudice to its contention, from the date of the order passed in the said I.A., there shall be interim stay with respect to collection of the amounts prior to the order passed in I.A. No. 3 of 2019.