‘Playing fraud on this court’: Telangana HC orders audit of power connections given on undertakings

Hyderabad: Flagging what it termed a possible misuse of court-granted relief, Telangana high court has directed the CMD of TGTrsansco to submit a comprehensive report by July 15 on electricity connections provided to building owners who undertook to furnish occupancy or no-objection certificates at a later stage.Justice Nagesh Bheemapaka passed the order while hearing a writ petition filed by Siddipet-based businessman Neerumalla Laxmana Murthy, who had obtained an interim order in 2017 directing the power utility to provide electricity supply to buildings covered by municipal permissions.The judge made it clear that electricity supply could be withdrawn if the competent authority ultimately declined to issue an occupancy certificate.Expressing concern over the long delay, Justice Bheemapaka noted that nearly a decade had elapsed and there was nothing on record to show that the petitioner had produced the required occupancy certificate for continuation of power supply.The court observed that several benches of the high court had, over the years, granted similar relief to thousands of petitioners based on undertakings that they would obtain and submit occupancy or completion certificates.

However, many beneficiaries never returned to place such documents before the court, while electricity authorities also failed to report instances of non-compliance.Describing the conduct as a misuse of the court’s indulgence and “nothing short of playing fraud on this court”, the judge referred to recent directions that utility connections should ordinarily be granted only after completion or occupancy certificates are produced.The high court directed the Transco CMD to furnish details of electricity connections granted on such undertakings, the number of cases where certificates were subsequently submitted, pending cases, and action taken against defaulters.