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Prayagraj, June 04 (HS). The Allahabad High Court has said that a valid electricity connection cannot be disrupted indefinitely just because overhead wires are to be replaced with underground cables.
While widening the roads under the Smart City Development Project in Moradabad, the respondent authorities had removed several overhead wires, which disrupted the power supply to the shops of the petitioners. Further, a portion of a building situated on Station Road, where the shops were located, was demolished by the authorities and the debris was left there.
The petitioners had filed a petition in the High Court seeking restoration of their power supply. The opposing authorities argued that due to the injunction from the court in the cases filed by the petitioners and their landlords, the work of laying underground cables by the authorities could not be completed. The counsel for the petitioner argued that the injunction was related to the demolition of a part of the building, which is not an obstacle to restoring power supply.
The counsel for the electricity department said that the power supply could not be restored as the debris was not removed by the Municipal Corporation. He said that as soon as the Municipal Corporation removes the debris, the power supply will be restored. A bench of Justice Manoj Kumar Gupta and Justice Kshitij Shailendra said that keeping in view the undisputed fact that the petitioners had a valid electricity connection and the only reason for disconnecting the power supply was that the overhead wires were to be replaced by underground cables, we are of the view that the said ground cannot be a valid excuse for an indefinite period. The Municipal Corporation and the Electricity Department are legally bound to work together and remove the debris and restore power supply to legitimate consumers.
Accordingly, the court has directed the Municipal Corporation and the Electricity Department to coordinate with each other and restore the electricity connection of the petitioners within 48 hours. The court directed that if the connection is not restored, the respondents will have to show cause as to why they should not be fined for disrupting the legal electricity supply for a long time. The court has passed this order after hearing the petition filed by Shekhar Kapoor and 10 others.