IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) THURSDAY, THE TWENTY EIGHTH DAY OF AUGUST TWO THOUSAND AND EIGHT PRESENT THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE RAMESH RANGANATHAN WRIT PETITION NO : 21402 of 2000 Between: ..... PETITIONER AND .....RESPONDENT Petition under Article 226 of the constitution of India praying that in the circumstances stated in the Aﬃdavit ﬁled herein the High Court will be pleased to Counsel for the Petitioner:MR.I.AGA REDDY Counsel for the Respondent No.: P.R.BALARAMI REDDY(SC FOR AP TRANSCO) The Court made the following : THE HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE RAMESH RANGANATHAN WRIT PETITION NO.21402 OF 2000 ORDER: The case of the petitioners, one of whom is the Sarpanch of the Gram Panchayat, is that they had been requested to arrange for electric poles to be supplied and thereafter were asked to pay demand drafts for being given electricity connection and that, pursuant thereto, electricity connection was given both to the streets in which the petitioners were residing and to their residential houses. It is also their case that, while matters stood thus, the Assistant Engineer had sought police protection to have the electricity poles dismantled alleging that such connections were unauthorized. The fact also remains that the petitioners have approached this Court in the year 2000 and this Court had passed an interim order of status-quo. It is thus evident that the petitioners have continued to consume electricity supplied by the distributing companies and maintained partly by the Gram Panchayat, with respect to the street lights. Since the petitioners have been utilizing the electricity connection for the past more than eight years, it would be wholly inappropriate to deprive them of the facility accorded to them by the distributing companies unless, of course, the said connection is unauthorized or illegal. Ends of justice would be met if the writ petition is disposed of directing the respondents to continue electric supply both to the streets and to the residential houses of the petitioners houses located therein till action, if any, is taken against them for unauthorised or illegal connections after putting them on notice and giving them an opportunity of being heard. The writ petition is, accordingly, disposed of. No costs. ___________ 28-8-2008 asp