IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) PRESENT: THE HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE C.V.NAGARJUNA REDDY WEDNESDAY, THE THIRD DAY OF JUNE, TWO THOUSAND NINE ONLY WRIT PETITION No.1073 of 2006 Between: Shakti Pulvarisers, reptd., by its Proprietor- Akkapalli Raju, s/o.Veeraiah, 40 yrs, Business, C/o.14, IDA, Ramagundam PO, Fertilizer City, Karimnagar District. … Petitioner And The Superintendent Engineer (Operation), M/s.NPDCL of AP Ltd., Karimnagar and three others. … Respondents Counsel for the petitioners: Sri Syed Khadar Masthan for Sri B.Vijaysen Reddy. Counsel for the respondents: Sri S.V.Ramana for Sri O.Manohar Reddy. This Court made the following: ORDER:- This Writ Petition is filed questioning the levy of alleged short fall amount due to defective meter. On 27-9-2007 the inspecting officials inspected the service of the petitioner and during the said inspection the meter was allegedly found defective. Thereafter, proceedings were issued assessing a sum of Rs.95,957/- towards short fall in consumption due to defective meter. Subsequently, further sum was added to the said amount and the total liability was assessed at Rs.1,29,701-87 ps. During the pendency of this dispute, the petitioner claimed to have paid Rs.23,786/- and made a representation to reconsider the said levy. As the respondents have not revised the demand, the petitioner filed the present Writ Petition. At the hearing it is not disputed by the learned Standing Counsel for the respondents that no prior notice was issued before levying the alleged shortfall amount on account of the purported defect in the meter. Both the principles of natural justice and the procedure prescribed by the respondents envisage that a notice and an opportunity of hearing are to be given to the consumer. In this view of the matter, the action of the respondents in levying the back billing amount on the petitioner cannot be sustained in law. The Writ Petition is, therefore, allowed and the impugned levy is set aside. Liberty is given to the respondents to hold a detailed enquiry into the alleged defect in the meter and make a fresh assessment after giving an opportunity to the petitioner to represent its case. The respondents shall, forthwith, restore the power supply to the petitioner’s unit, which will be subject to the assessment order to be made in future. ------------------------------------ C.V.NAGARJUNA REDDY,J Date:03-6-2009 MNR