IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) THURSDAY, THE TWENTY FOURTH DAY OF JUNE TWO THOUSAND AND TEN PRESENT THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE C.V.NAGARJUNA REDDY WRIT PETITION No.13397 of 2003 Between: Bridge and Roof Co., (India) limited, Nalgonda. … Petitioner And Govt., of A.P., rep., by its Secretary, Industries and Commerce, Mines-II Dept., Secretariat, Hyderabad & others. … Respondents Counsel for the Petitioner: Sri K. Srikanth for Sri Deepak Bhattacharjee Counsel for the respondents: GP for Mines and Geology The Court made the following: THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE C.V.NAGARJUNA REDDY WRIT PETITION No.13397 of 2003 ORDER: In this writ petition, the petitioner questioned the action of the respondents in imposing two times the normal seigniorage charges as penalty, as illegal and arbitrary. For disposal of the writ petition, it is not necessary to refer to the facts in detail because in more or less a similar case this Court has taken the view that imposition of penalty in excess of one time the normal charges casts onerous liability on the consumer. To avoid repetition of the reasons, it is directed that order dated 18.06.2010 in W.P.No.17762 of 2007 shall be read as part of this order and accordingly order dated 31.03.2003 of respondent No.2 is partly set aside and the petitioner is permitted to pay one time the normal seigniorage charge as penalty. Learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that the said penalty would come to Rs.7,40,200/-. He also submitted that the petitioner has already paid the normal seigniorage fee. Having regard to the facts and circumstances of the case, the petitioner is permitted to pay the penalty component of Rs.7,40,200/- within a period of eight weeks from the date of receipt of a copy of this order. On payment of the said amount, the respondents shall return to the petitioner the bank guarantee, which was furnished by it as per the directions of this Court. Subject to the above modification, the writ petition is partly allowed. __________________________ C.V.NAGARJUNA REDDY, J Date: 24.06.2010. ES