- (1.) The Petitioner in this Article 226 petition dated August 3, 2010 is seeking the following principal reliefs: a) A writ of and/or order and/or mandamus do issue: (i) ' directing the Respondents to allow the Petitioner to deposit Rs. 25,000/-, against the final assessment bill, being Annexure P-2 of the present petition and to pay off the rest of the amount @ Rs. 2000/- per month till the disposal of the final assessment bill amount along with the current electricity charges. (ii) to direct the Respondents to grant electricity connection forthwith to the meter in question of the Petitioner after the first deposition is made by the Petitioner.
(2.) The officials of the West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company Limited, a licensee under the Electricity Act, 2003, detected that the Petitioner was unauthorisedly using electricity adopting the hooking method. Besides taking corrective measures and disconnecting the Petitioner's lawful supply as well, the licensee initiated proceedings before the Criminal Court under Section 135 of the Electricity Act, 2003 and also under Section 126 of the Act. The Petitioner was arrested and released on bail after 47 days. The criminal case is pending.
(3.) In the Section 126 proceedings the Assessing Officer made the order of provisional assessment dated May 12, 2010 and on that same day he made the order of final assessment. The Petitioner accepted the order of final assessment and submitted a representation dated July 26, 2010 requesting the licensee to permit him to pay the assessed amount in instalments and to reconnect his supply on payment of the first instalment. Since the licensee did not give any attention to his representation, he brought this petition.;