- (1.) All these petitions address the issue of entitlement of occupiers of houses in an unauthorized colony a right to obtain electricity connection. The petitioners' contention in all these writ petitions are: (i) in terms of Section 43 of the Indian Electricity Act, 2003, the ownership of the premises where electricity is sought, is irrelevant and they are entitled to be provided with the electricity connections on the fundamental premise that the electricity is no longer a luxury but a necessity; (ii) the Division Bench of this Court has passed an order in CWP No. 14357 of 2002 and a batch of other cases where the issue for consideration was, whether the persons in unauthorized houses could claim a right to electricity connection. The writ petitions were ordered directing the Electricity Board to give the connections subject to certain restrictions and the petitioners are entitled to the benefit of the reasoning of the said judgment; (iii) the supply of release of electricity connections to the applicants in an unapproved colony in the State of Punjab was considered by the Deputy Chief Engineer, acting on behalf of Chief Engineer (Commercial), PSPCL, Patiala, and he had directed the service connection to be given subject to certain conditions such as, the liability to pay the service connection charges and also to provide sufficient security for dismantlement charges if such a contingency arose in future. The action of Electricity Board must satisfy the requirement, as a public body, of Article 14 of the Constitution and hence, the electricity connection cannot deny the petitioners' entitlement; (iv) the GMADA has already stated that the properties in the hands of the petitioners do not come within its purview and that the property is under the control and management of the Nagar Panchayat, Naya Gaon. The Nagar Panchayat, which is added as the 6th respondent, has stated that the village is divided into 5 zones, namely, A to E, and while A and B zones have been approved, as regards C, D and E zones await, where the petitioners have built their houses, the State Government has delisted them from the forest area. The case, however, awaits final disposal by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in a case pending before it. They have themselves no particular objection to the electricity being given for the petitioners' properties.
(2.) The counsel appearing on behalf of the Electricity Board states with vehemence that it is not merely a case for grant of connection to a few individuals but the entire housing colony has come up in agricultural lands and areas which have come under the Punjab Land Preservation Act where there could not be any constructions. A colonizer, who will be subject to all the restrictions relating to the construction and who has to undertake the responsibility of creating the necessary infrastructure for housing, cannot secure legitimacy to persons, who are in possession of the properties and who are allowed to put up constructions in brazen defiance of law and use their own unlawful conduct to justify a plea for electricity connection on the ground that the electricity connection is a necessary amenity and that no objection could be taken for giving of such supply. Responding to the particular reference to the proceedings of the Chief Engineer (Commercial), PSPCL, Patiala, the learned counsel would point out that the provisional electricity supply connection under normal D.S. (domestic supply) tariff to the respondents of an unapproved colony, as contemplated in that letter, was in a situation where there was no serious difficulty as regards either zoning or approval for the lay-out itself, when proposals were pending for such approval and the Chief Engineer's letter itself refers to a prospect of disconnection, if it was subsequently declared illegal or unauthorized.
(3.) The learned counsel for the Electricity Board also states that, no construction in the said area could come up in contravention of the provisions of Punjab Apartments and Property Regulation Act (PAPRA) and electricity connection cannot be given as if it legitimizes otherwise unlawful constructions under a particular enactment. The: Electricity Board, therefore, would plead for rejection outright of the petitioners' plea.;