- (1.) This appeal, against the judgment and order dated 26.05.2006 and 25.07.2006 passed by the Appellate Tribunal for Electricity, New Delhi (hereinafter referred to as the "Appellate Tribunal") was initially filed by the Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB). Pursuant to a statutory scheme of transfer, vide notification dated 16.04.2010, the PSEB had been unbundled and the functions of generation and distribution came to be vested in the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (Corporation). By order dated 03.09.2014 the Corporation has been substituted as the appellant in place of the PSEB.
(2.) Before the learned Appellate Tribunal the tariff orders of the Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission (Commission) dated 30.11.2004 and 14.06.2005 for the financial years 2004-2005 and 2005-2006 were under challenge. Such challenge was both by the present appellant as well as various industrial consumers. By the impugned judgment while the appeals filed by the present appellant have been dismissed, those filed by the industrial consumers have been disposed of with certain directions. Aggrieved, the instant appeal has been filed under Section 125 of the Electricity Act, 2003 (for short "the Act") against the aforesaid common order of the Appellate Tribunal.
(3.) Section 125 of the Act contemplates filing of an appeal to this Court against an order of the Appellate Tribunal on any one or more of the grounds specified in Section 100 of Code of Civil Procedure, 1908. The scope of an appeal to this Court under the aforesaid provision of the Act was considered in DSR (Steel) Pvt. Ltd. Vs. State of Rajasthan, 2012 6 SCC 782 holding, inter alia, that : "14. An appeal under Section 125 of the Electricity Act, 2003 is maintainable before this Court only on the grounds specified in Section 100 of the Code of Civil Procedure. Section 100 CPC in turn permits filing of an appeal only if the case involves a substantial question of law. Findings of fact recorded by the courts below, which would in the present case, imply the Regulatory Commission as the court of first instance and the Appellate Tribunal as the court hearing the first appeal, cannot be reopened before this Court in an appeal under Section 125 of the Electricity Act, 2003. Just as the High Court cannot interfere with the concurrent findings of fact recorded by [pic]the courts below in a second appeal under Section 100 of the Code of Civil Procedure, so also this Court would be loath to entertain any challenge to the concurrent findings of fact recorded by the Regulatory Commission and the Appellate Tribunal. The decisions of this Court on the point are a legion. Reference to Govindaraju v. Mariamman, 2005 2 SCC 500], Hari Singh v. Kanhaiya Lal, 1999 7 SCC 288, Ramaswamy Kalingaryar v. Mathayan Padayachi, 1992 Supp1 SCC 712, Kehar Singh v. Yash Pal, 1990 AIR(SC) 2212 and Bismillah Begum v. Rahmatullah Khan, 1998 2 SCC 226 should, however, suffice." The challenge in the present appeal, therefore, will have to be considered keeping in mind the principles laid down in DSR (Steel) Pvt. Ltd. Vs. State of Rajasthan enumerated above.;