| The appellants were the applicants for electricity connection for their houses under the Total Electrification Programme of the Kerala State Government. The appellants also remitted application fee Rs. 50/- each at Electrical Section, Unnikulam and also submitted Wiring Registration Certificate, ELCB paper, agreement in stamp paper of Rs. 200/- for effecting the connection. The respondent had denied electricity connection to them on the basis of various grounds. So the appellants had approached the CGRF Kozhikode by filing a petition in OP No. 199/2016-17 which was dismissed vide order dated 15-06-2017. Aggrieved against this, the appellants had submitted appeal petition before this Authority vide appeal petition No. P/85/2017. The appeal was disposed of by ordering that the appellants are eligible for electric connections for domestic purposes under Total Electrification Programme and also directed that the respondent shall take action to obtain sanction from the higher officers of KSEB Ltd to provide electricity connection to the appellants and to effect the connections within a period of three months, vide order dated 31-10-2017. The KSEB filed WP (C) 12064/2018 before the Hon’ble High Court of Kerala challenging the findings rendered by the Ombudsman that the order has been issued without properly analysing the factual factors and without appreciating the fact the KSEB had denied electric connection to the said applicants only because the implementation committee constituted of the representatives of the Local Self Government and the Electricity Board had not recommended them for connection under Total Electrification programme. On the other hand, the appellants in appeal petition No. 85/2017 also filed WP (C) 25881 of 2018 before the Hon’ble High Court requesting orders that the action of the KSEB in having denied the benefit to them earlier was incorrect and illegal. The Hon’ble High Court, in its common judgment dated 29-01-2019, remanded the matter to this Authority to reconsider the case after affording fresh opportunity of being heard to them as also the competent authorities of the KSEB, but only after obtaining a report from the Implementation Committee constituted under the Total Electrification Programme and directed to take a decision thereon not later than two months from the date of receipt of a copy of the judgment. Accordingly the appellants have produced a copy of the judgment on 25-03-2018 and have also submitted the following arguments in the matter afresh and the KSEBL had also submitted the statement of facts on the arguments of the appellants.
Whether the objections submitted by the appellants are sustainable is a matter which requires to be decided based on the above aspects. Since those aspects were not considered by the KSEBL and the Grama Panchayath ward members, this Authority is of the opinion that rejection for inclusion of the appellants in the beneficiaries list of TEP without considering the objections cannot be sustained. Considering facts of the case, it was confirmed that an implementation committee was not formed in the jurisdiction of Electrical Section, Unnikulam for selecting the beneficiaries under the Total Electrification Programme and the appellants’ applications were found rejected by the KSEBL and the Panchayath members on trivial grounds without properly verifying the genuineness of the applications. I am fully convinced that the request of the appellants is reasonable and justifiable. For the above reasons, the appellants are eligible to get electric connection under Total Electrification Programme. The respondent shall take action to provide electric connection to the appellants.
Having concluded and decided as above, it is ordered accordingly. The Appeal Petition filed by the appellant is allowed and stands disposed of as such. No order as to costs. |
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P/021/2019-Sri. Khader, Sri. Ali Mohammed, Smt. Shyni D, Kozhikode 