Civil Writ Petition No.22609 of 2010 (1) IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH Civil Writ Petition No.22609 of 2010 Date of Decision : 28th April, 2011. Balaji Educational Society ....Petitioner Versus Union of India and Others ...Respondents CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE MAHESH GROVER Present: Mr.Gaurav Mohunta Advocate for the petitioner. Mr.Vir Bhan Singla Advocate. Mr.Salil Sagar, Additional Advocate General, Punjab. * * * Mahesh Grover, J. In this writ petition, the petitioner prays for modification of the letter dated 30.11.2010 (Annexure P-8), vide which the petitioner- institute was granted affiliation w.e.f. February, 2011. According to the petitioner, it should have been granted affiliation w.e.f. August, 2010 since it had initiated the process of seeking affiliation much prior to the date and was required to be considered in June, July or August, 2010. The case of the petitioner-institute was not being considered in accordance with law and at the appropriate time. There were few objections and the preliminary one is that the petitioner had submitted the particulars and details of the electric meter connection which the respondents doubted to be incorrect. So, they sought clarification from the petitioner. The petitioner applied to Punjab State Power Corporation Limited to clarify the Civil Writ Petition No.22609 of 2010 (2) situation as to whether the particulars of the meter given out by the petitioner were correct and that there was no other meter existing in the premises of the petitioner. The Punjab State Power Corporation Limited clarified vide its communication dated 23.10.2010 that the particulars of the meter connection given by the petitioner are correct and that after taking over of the Punjab State Electricity Board by the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited, this discrepancy in the number had appeared and accordingly, they certified that the meter sealing report as well as electrical bills issued for the electric connection in the name of Chairman Shaheed Udham Singh ITC, Village Jhoke Harihar, District Ferozepur under two different account numbers are of the same electric meter and are legitimate and geunine. The respondents considered the case of the petitioner in special meetings along with the cases of numerous other aspirants by giving relaxation in rules considering the interest of the students and granted affiliation to various others including the petitioner and the cases of other eligible aspirants who were considered along with the petitioners, the benefit was granted to them w.e.f. February, 2011. The process had initiated earlier but the decision was being taken in special meetings which meetings were result of relaxation of the provisions of law. The benefit was however denied to the petitioner on the ground that application was lacking in material particulars but after the same had been rectified by him this benefit was granted to him w.e.f. February, 2011 rather than August, 2010 which ought to have been the case. The grievance is, thus, in narrow compass of the controversy in which the petitioner says that it Civil Writ Petition No.22609 of 2010 (3) was not their fault that the process got delayed as he had submitted the correct particulars but because of peculiar situation when the Punjab State Electricity Board had been replaced by the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited, the discrepancy in the number of the meter and their particulars was found. It was not their fault that such delay has been occurred. The respondents, on the other hand, contend that the petitioner had violated the process of law blatantly and because of the deficit information given out in the application, the affiliation has rightly been granted w.e.f. February, 2011. After due consideration, I am of the opinion that it cannot be said that the respondents have committed any illegality, but keeping in view the fact that the petitioner is also not directly at fault because of the peculiar situation where the information supplied was deficit on account of the Punjab State Electricity Board having been replaced by the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited and also for the reasons that it cannot be said that the information supplied by the petitioner was deficit in the strict sense of the word. I am of the opinion that the instant writ petition deserves to be allowed and the order Annexure P-8 be modified to say that the affiliation relate back to August, 2010 instead of February,2011. (MAHESH GROVER) 28th April, 2011. JUDGE Seema- II