IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) TUESDAY, THE TWENTY FOURTH DAY OF FEBRUARY TWO THOUSAND AND NINE PRESENT THE HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE C.V.NAGARJUNA REDDY WRIT PETITION NO : 17877 of 2002 Between: Smt.G.Jyothirmaya Reddy W/o. G.Ramana Reddy R/o. 105, Abby lane,Weatherford, Texas 76086, U.S.A. REp by its GPA holder K.Ram Gopal Reddy S/o.K.Narayana Reddy Age;40 years Occ;Business, R/o. 2-2-1108/6/8, Bagh Amberpet, Hyderabad-13 ..... PETITIONER AND 1 The Central Power Distribution Company Ltd., Rep by its Chairman & Managing Director, Vidyuth Soudha, Hyderabad. 2 Superintendent Engineer APDCL, Hyderabad. 3 Divisional Engineer CPDCL, Banjara Hills, Hyderabad. 4 The Assistant Divisional Engineer, CPDCL., Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad. 5 The Government of A.P. Through Secretary Dept of Tourism, Tank bund Road, Hyderabad. ...RESPONDENTS Counsel for the Petitioner:MR.B.VIJAYSEN REDDY Counsel for the Respondents: SRI J.ANIL KUMAR FOR SRI O.MANOHAR REDDY The Court made the following : O R D E R: This writ petition is filed for a writ of Mandamus to declare the action of the respondents in issuing bills under LT Category - II in respect of service connection bearing No.A9000851 by revising the classification from LT-I to LT-II as illegal and without jurisdiction. Heard Sri B.Vijaysen Reddy, learned counsel for the petitioner, and the learned counsel representing the learned Standing Counsel for the respondents. The petitioner is a consumer of the respondents and has been running a Guest House. Her service connection was included in LT Category-I. The petitioner claims that her service connection was classified under LT Category-I in view of the policy decision of the State Government reflected in Go.R.T.No.69 dated 13-02-2001. She felt aggrieved by the change of category to LT Category-II, without prior notice. No counter-affidavit is filed. Even if the respondents feel that the classification of the petitioner’s service connection requires a change, the principles of natural justice warrant that a prior opportunity should be given to the petitioner before changing the category. As admittedly, no such opportunity has been given, the impugned action cannot be sustained in law. Hence, the writ petition is allowed. The impugned action of change of classification and the bill following the same are declared as invalid. Liberty is given to the respondents to initiate fresh action for reclassification by giving a show cause notice to the petitioner. Appropriate order can be passed by the respondents after considering the explanation, if any, filed by the petitioner. C.V.NAGARJUNA REDDY, J Dated 24th February, 2009 vrn