DISTRICT CONSUMER DISPUTES REDRESSAL FORUM, BATHINDA.
CC.No.451 of 10-09-2012
Decided on 12-03-2013
Amarjit Kaur aged about 55 years D/o Karnail Singh R/o Vill.Siria Wala, Tehsil Phul & District Bathinda now W/o Gurdeep Singh S/o Natha Singh R/o Ogo Ke, Tehsil & District Ferozepur.
........Complainant
Versus
1.Punjab State Power Corporation Ltd., through Deputy Chief Engineer Enforcement Bathinda.
2.Assistant Executive Engineer, Punjab State Power Corporation Ltd., Bhagta Bhai Ka.
.......Opposite parties
Complaint under Section 12 of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986.
QUORUM
Smt. Vikramjit Kaur Soni, President.
Sh.Amarjeet Paul, Member.
Smt.Sukhwinder Kaur, Member.
Present:-
For the Complainant: Sh.Ashok Gupta, counsel for complainant.
For Opposite parties: Sh.R.D Goyal, counsel for opposite parties.
ORDER
VIKRAMJIT KAUR SONI, PRESIDENT:-
1. The complainant has filed the present complaint under section 12 of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 as amended upto date (Here-in-after referred to as an 'Act'). The brief facts of the complaint are that Karnail Singh S/o Bhagwan Singh (deceased) has transferred his land alongwith the 5 BHP tubewell connection bearing No.BH-1199 to the complainant vide judgment and decree of Hon'ble civil court dated 6.10.1993 in Civil Suit No.476 of 12.6.1993. Thus the complainant is owner of the said tubewell connection and the estate of Karnail Singh (deceased) by virtue of the civil court decree dated 6.10.1993 and mutation No.6945,10085 etc, was sanctioned in her favour. The complainant got transferred the said tubewell connection in her name from the opposite parties by submitting the abovesaid authentic documents alongwith the death certificate of Karnail Singh and affidavit. The complainant got the said tubewell connection transferred in her land at village Siria Wala and also got extended the load from 5 HP to 7.5 HP as per the requirement after complying with all the formalities and depositing the fees and the security amount and at the present the tubewell connection number is 1891 AP. Balwinder Singh S/o Bhagwan Singh, Kuldeep Singh, Arashdeep S/o Rajinder Singh S/o Karnail Singh challenged the said judgment and decree dated 6.10.1993 by setting up fake and false suit vide civil suit No.325 of 14.11.2003 which has been decided by Ms.Ravi Inder Kaur PCS Addl. Civil Judge (SD) Phul on 8.8.2011, dismissing their suit and a specific issue was framed regarding the said tubewell. In para No.53 of the judgment it has been specifically mentioned that the defendant (complainant) successfully proved that the motor connection in her name was transferred and she is also paying the electricity bills. The opposite parties have wrongly and illegally held that the transfer of the said tubewell connection in the name of the complainant and its shifting are illegal and cancelled the same vide memo No.1248 dated 20.7.2012 and issued the order for the permanent disconnection of the said tubewell connection dated 24.8.2012. The said tubewell connection was permanently disconnected. Hence the complainant has filed the present complaint to seek the directions to the opposite parties to restore the said tubewell connection alongwith cost and compensation.
2. Notice was sent to the opposite parties. The opposite parties after appearing before this Forum have filed their joint written statement and pleaded that the complainant has concealed the true facts regarding the fact that she had shifted her tubewell connection from village Bhagta to village Seria Wala without any sanction/permission of the opposite parties against the rules of Punjab State Power Corporation Ltd. The said tubewell connection was sanctioned to Karnail Singh for village Bhagta. The complainant namely Amarjit Kaur filed an application to the opposite parties for transferring the said tubewell connection/change the name of the said tubewell connection from the name of Karnail Singh to Amrjit Kaur. On the basis of this application the complainant filled an A & A form and filed an affidavit with this application for changing the name of the said tubewell connection alongwith copy of mutation of the land of village Bhagta. The requisite fees was deposited by the complainant and S.J.O was issued on 21.2.2003 in the name of Amarjit Kaur complainant and the new tubewell connection bearing No.AP BH/1891 was issued to her. The opposite parties only transferred/change the name from Karnail Singh to Amarjit Kaur but did not give any sanction/permission to the complainant for shifting the said tubewell connection from village Bhagta to village Seria Wala as alleged by her. The load was enhanced from 5 BHP to 7.5 BHP. The complainant has never filed an application for shifting her tubewell connection. The aforesaid judgment and decree is not binding upon the opposite parties as they were not party in that suit. This judgment and decree has been obtained by the complainant inclusion with the defendants. Balwinder Singh S/o Karnail Singh filed the complaint to XEN Enforcement No.2 Punjab State Electricity Board, Bathinda regarding the fact that in spite of his objections the change in the name of the said tubewell connection bearing No.AP BH/1199 has been done illegally and the same is running at village Seria Wala illegally. Balwinder Singh has also filed a complaint before S.D.O of Punjab State Electricity Board Bhagta Bhai. On the basis of this complaint the said tubewell connection was checked by Sh.Ranjit Singh XEN Enforcement Bathinda alongwith his staff on dated 15.2.2011 and they found that previously the said tubewell connection was running at the village Bhagta at the point A in the sketch and now is running illegally at point B at village Seria Wala. Thus the said tubewell connection has been shifted illegally as there is no record for shifting the said tubewell connection from village Bhagta to Seria Wala. A checking was done by XEN Enforcement and asked the complainant to produce the record regarding shifting of the said tubewell connection from one village to another but she failed to produce any such record. On the basis of this checking, an enquiry was conducted and statements of Krishan Kumar Revenue Accountant, Rakesh Kumar (LDC), Gurpreet Kaur LDC and Kamlesh Chander Kochar SDO and affidavit of Jagdev Singh J.E was recorded and they furnished their affidavits in this regard. This enquiry was conducted on the basis of filing an affidavit by Jeet Singh S/o Karnail Singh. After making an enquiry, it was held by Senior Executive Engineer Enforcement Bathinda that Jagdev Singh J.E, Krishan Kumar Revenue Accountant, Rakesh Kumar LDC are responsible persons who did not perform their duties very well and they were charge sheeted by Deputy Chief Engineer Enforcement Bathinda. Chief Engineer Enforcement Patiala gave his consent with the report of Deputy Chief Engineer Enforcement Bathinda. On the basis of this report the said tubewell connection was disconnected on 24.8.2012. The disconnection is legal and valid as per the law.
3. The parties have led their evidence in support of their respective pleadings.
4. Arguments heard. The record alongwith written submissions submitted by the parties perused.
5. The submission of the complainant is that Karnail Singh S/o Bhagwan Singh (deceased) was holding a tubewell connection bearing No.BH-1199 for 5 BHP after spending the installation charges. Karnail Singh S/o Bhagwan Singh (deceased) has transferred his land alongwith the said tubewell connection to the complainant vide judgment and decree of Hon'ble civil court dated 6.10.1993 in Civil Suit No.476 of 12.6.1993. The complainant got transferred the said tubewell connection in her name from the opposite parties by submitting the authentic documents alongwith the death certificate of Karnail Singh and affidavit. The complainant further submitted that she got the said tubewell connection transferred in her land at village Siria Wala and also got extended the load from 5 HP to 7.5 HP as per the requirement after complying with all the formalities and depositing the fees and the security amount and at the present the tubewell connection number is 1891 AP. Thereafter Balwinder Singh S/o Bhagwan Singh, Kuldeep Singh, Arashdeep S/o Rajinder Singh S/o Karnail Singh challenged the said judgment and decree dated 6.10.1993 by filing a civil suit No.325 of 14.11.2003 which was dismissed by Ms.Ravi Inder Kaur PCS Addl. Civil Judge (SD) Phul on 8.8.2011 and a specific issue was framed regarding the said tubewell. The opposite parties have held that the transfer of the said tubewell connection is in the name of the complainant but its shifting is illegal and cancelled vide memo No.1248 dated 20.7.2012 and issued the order for the permanent disconnection of the said tubewell connection dated 24.8.2012. The said tubewell connection was permanently disconnected
6. The submissions of the opposite parties are that the complainant had shifted her tubewell connection from village Bhagta to village Seria Wala without any sanction/permission of the opposite parties against the rules of Punjab State Power Corporation Ltd. Originally, the said tubewell connection was sanctioned to Karnail Singh for village Bhagta. The complainant namely Amarjit Kaur filed an application to the opposite parties for transferring the said tubewell connection/change the name of the said tubewell connection from the name of Karnail Singh to Amarjit Kaur. On the basis of this application the complainant filled an A & A form and filed an affidavit with this application for changing the name of the said tubewell connection alongwith copy of mutation of the land of village Bhagta. After getting deposit the requisite fee from the complainant, S.J.O was issued on 21.2.2003 in the name of Amarjit Kaur complainant and the new tubewell connection bearing No.AP BH/1891 was issued to her. The opposite parties further submitted that they only transferred/change the name from Karnail Singh to Amarjit Kaur but did not give any sanction/permission to the complainant for shifting the said tubewell connection from village Bhagta to village Seria Wala. The load was enhanced from 5 BHP to 7.5 BHP. No application was ever received from the complainant for shifting the said tubewell connection anytime. One Balwinder Singh has filed a complaint before S.D.O of Punjab State Electricity Board Bhagta Bhai. On the basis of this complaint the said tubewell connection was checked by Sh.Ranjit Singh XEN Enforcement Bathinda alongwith his staff on dated 15.2.2011 and they found that previously the said tubewell connection was running at the village Bhagta at the point A in the sketch and now is running illegally at point B at village Seria Wala. Thus the said tubewell connection has been shifted illegally as there is no record for shifting the said tubewell connection from village Bhagta to Seria Wala. XEN Enforcement also made an enquiry from the complainant at village Seria Wala for shifting the said tubewell connection, then she has failed to produce any record for shifting it. On the basis of this checking, an enquiry was conducted even statement of Krishan Kumar Revenue Accountant, Rakesh Kumar LDC, Gurpreet Kaur LDC and Kamlesh Chander Kochar SDO and affidavit of Jagdev Singh J.E was recorded. This enquiry was also made on the basis of filing an affidavit by Jeet Singh S/o Karnail Singh. After making an enquiry, it was held by Senior Executive Engineer Enforcement Bathinda that Jagdev Singh J.E, Krishan Kumar Revenue Accountant, Rakesh Kumar LDC are responsible persons who did not perform their duties very well and they were charge sheeted by Deputy Chief Engineer Enforcement Bathinda. The Chief Engineer Enforcement Patiala gave his consent with the report of Deputy Chief Engineer Enforcement Bathinda. On the basis of this report the said tubewell connection was disconnected on 24.8.2012.
7. During the pendency of this complaint the complainant has filed a separate application for restoration of the said tubewell connection. After seeing the necessity of the electricity vide order dated 4.8.2012 this Forum directed the opposite parties to restore the said tubewell connection till the final decision of this complaint.
8. A perusal of record placed on file shows that nothing has been placed on file by the complainant to show that she has ever applied for shifting the said tubwell connection from village Bhagta to Seria Wala. There is not even a single document placed on file to show that the complainant has ever deposited the requisite fee for shifting the said tubwell connection from one village to another. Vide Ex.C7 an inquiry was conducted and the report was submitted. The English rendering of the relevant portion of Ex.C7 is reproduced as under:-
“....From the statements given by the employees and from investigation report it is clear that earlier at the time of change of the name in the aforesaid case the then SDO K.C Kochar, Sh.K.K Verma, revenue accountant and Sh.Ramesh Kumar consumer clerk (LDC) have investigated the matter after receiving incomplete documents therefore they are fully responsible. In the case of shifting the Feeder Incharge Sh.Jagdev Singh J.E and Sh.Sukhdev Singh Lineman are also responsible because this connection has been shifted on their feeder. This wrong shifting also deserves cancellation......”
The application of the complainant Ex.C8 that has been written by her to the Electricity Board is regarding the change in the name which is clear from the subject as well the contents of the same. On the top of Ex.C9 the noting is given regarding the change of the name. When it came to the knowledge of the opposite parties that the said tubwell connection has illegally been shifted from village Bhagta to Seria Wala, it was disconnected by them as they have never gave any permission to shift it to village Seria Wala. Moreover the complainant has failed to produce any cogent and convincing evidence to prove that this tubwell connection was ever shifted by the opposite parties from village Bhagta to Seria Wala as per rules after seeking the requisite charges for shifting. An inquiry was held and it was found Jagdev Singh J.E, Krishan Kumar Revenue Accountant, Rakesh Kumar LDC are responsible persons who have illegally shifted the said tubewell connection from village Bhagta to Seria Wala and they were charge sheeted by the Deputy Chief Engineer Enforcement Bathinda.
9. Thus from the facts, circumstances and evidence placed on file there seems to be no fault of the complainant as she has applied for the change/transfer of the name from Karnail Singh to her name and mistook the same as shifting of the said tubewell connection from village Bhagta to Seria Wala. Moreover there is no fault of the opposite parties at large. The officials who were involved in shifting of the said tubewell connection illegally were already charge sheeted by the concerned authorities of opposite parties.
The Regulation 29.5 of the Electricity Supply Code and Related Matters Regulations 2007 contains Charges for shifting of a Tubewell Connection is reproduced:-
“29.5) Charges for shifting of a Tubewell Connection:-
Shifting of tubewell connection involving dismantlement of old service line and erection of service line at the new site including installation of transformer, the consumer shall pay the entire cost for HVDS except the cost of distribution transformer which shall be provided by the PSPCL.
The consumer requesting for shifting of connection at the new site/land shall produce 'Fard' of the land where the connection is required to be shifted in token of his being the owner of atleast One Acre of the land.”
10. Therefore in view of what has been discussed above the complainant is entitled to shift her tubewell connection if she fulfills all the conditions as per the aforesaid Regulation 29.5. Hence this complaint is accepted with Rs.1000/- as cost and the complainant will fulfill all the requisite formalities within one month from the date of receipt of the copy of this order which are required for shifting the said tubewell connection from one village to another and also deposit the requisite amount. After fulfilling all the formalities and depositing of requisite fee, the opposite parties will lawfully shift the said tubewell connection to village Seria Wala in next 30 days. In case of failure on the part of the complainant the stay will stand vacated automatically after expiry of 60 days. The compliance of this order be done within 60 days from the date of receipt of the copy of this order.
11. A copy of this order be sent to the parties concerned free of cost and file be consigned to the record room.
Pronounced in open Forum:-
12-03-2013
Vikramjit Kaur Soni
President
Amarjeet Paul
Member
Sukhwinder Kaur
Member
