Law: Electricity Act (IX of 1910)

Section: 24 , 54-C , 1 , 2 , 151

Electricity Act (IX of 1910)--- ---Ss. 24 & 54-C---Civil Procedure Code (V of 1908), O.XXXIX, Rr. 1 & 2 & S.151---Interim injunction---Entitlement to---Plaintiff, a habitual defaulter had been avoiding payment of electric bills by abusing process of Court by filing suit, from time to time and delaying recovery of amount of outstanding bills for the last many years---Such plaintiff, having no prima facie case, whatsoever, had not come to Court with clean hands---Enactment of S. 54-C, Electricity Act, 1910, having been necessitated in order to overcome abuse of process of Court by such persons plaintiff was not entitled to interim relief in circumstances. A. R. Mirza for Plaintiff. Ikram Ahmad Ansari for Defendants. ORDER These are applications under Order 39 Rules 1 and 2 read with Section 151, C. P. C. praying that interim injunction may be granted restraining the defendants from disconnecting the electric connection in respect of Meter No. BL-500 of the Plaintiffs' factory, M/s. Ramzan Ice & Cold Storage, Korangi Township Industrial Area, Karachi. The case of the plaintiff is that the Defendant K. E. S. C. had sanctioned power load of 140 K. W. and connected load of 68 K. W. to the plaintiffs' factory when the above-noted meter was installed therein. The defendants thereafter started sending electric bills of the energy consumed by the plaintiffs' factory. First bill for the period May to August, 1984 was highly inflated, wrong and totally arbitrary. Hence the plaintiff challenged the said bill through Suit No. 420/1985 in this Court. The plaintiffs withdrew the suit on the assurance of the defendants on 13-11-1984. Thereafter defendants sent bill for the months of September and October, 1984 more or less on the same reading. The plaintiffs' factory remained closed from November, 1984 to March, 1985. From April, 1985 to July, 1985 the defendants sent highly inflated bills, not based on actual reading and did not correct the bills in spite of the protest of the plaintiffs. The factory remained closed for August and September, 1985. The defendants disconnected the electricity of the plaintiffs in September, 1985, which remained…