: 1 : IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY ORDINARY ORIGINAL CIVIL JURISDICTION NOTICE OF MOTION NO.2550 OF 2007 IN SUIT NO.1248 OF 2006 New Era Fabrics Ltd. ....Plaintiff V/s. Bombay Electric Supply & Transport ....Defendant Mr.M.M. Vashi for the Plaintiff. Mr.H. Toor with Ms.Kavita Anchan i/b Crawford Bayley & Co. for the Defendant. CORAM : S.J. VAZIFDAR, J. DATED : 9TH JULY, 2008. P.C. : 1. By this Notice of Motion, the Plaintiff has sought an order directing the Defendants to raise all the future electric bills on the Plaintiff as per an order dated 13.4.2007 passed by the Divisional Engineer Commercial (North), Assessing Officer. The Plaintiff has also sought an order restraining the Defendants from disconnecting the electric supply and/or taking any further steps pursuant to an electricity bill dated 21.6.2007. Lastly, the Plaintiff has sought an order directing the Defendants to calculate the amount due and payable by the Plaintiff from October, 2005 as per the order dated 13.4.2007. : 2 : 2. The suit was filed for a declaration that a bill for a period 1.3.2006 to 31.3.2006 is illegal and that the Plaintiff is entitled to use 25% of the electricity supplied by the Defendants for allied purpose such as office, retail shop etc. The Plaintiff has also sought a permanent injunction restraining the Defendants from taking steps to recover the amounts under the said bills and for an order directing the Defendants to raise the electric bills as done prior to February, 2006 i.e. by charging the Plaintiff for electricity consumption at the industrial rate. 3. Pursuant to an order dated 4.5.2006 passed by this Court, the Divisional Engineer Commercial (North) Assessing Officer in order dated 13.4.2007 recorded that pursuant to the Plaintiff’s request for an amicable settlement of the case, it was decided to settle the matter on the following terms and conditions :- "1. M/s.New Era Fabrics Ltd. will apply for obtaining separate electric supply for their shopping mall. 2. HTP-3 tariff (erstwhile RC-HV) will be charged only for increased consumption for energy and billing demand from October 2005 and balance units will be continued to be charged under HTP-4 tariff (erstwhile IND-HV). Thus consumer will be given refund : 3 : in kWH, rKVAH, electricity duty and billing demand charges of RC(HV) tariff on month to month basis from October 2005 to March 2007 as compared to average of past 7 months’ quantities from March 2005 to September 2005 when consumer was using purely industrial load i.e. IND(HV) tariff. 3. M/s.New Era Fabrics will withdraw the suit filed in Hon’ble High Court Mumbai. 4. Bank guarantees furnished by M/s.New Era Fabrics Ltd. as per Mumbai High Court’s order will be refunded by BEST after payment of required adjustment amount payable by the party. This amount will be worked out by the BEST and consumer will be intimated after obtaining approval of BEST Management. 5. M/s.New Era Fabrics Ltd., will disconnect and remove the electric connection between industrial premises and shopping mall in presence of BEST’s officers to enable BEST to bill industrial load under prevailing tariff." 4. From the prayers in the present Notice of Motion, it is clear that the reliefs sought go beyond the scope of the suit. This is for the simple reason that the fresh bills have been raised pursuant to the order dated 13.4.2007. 5. One of the disputes is whether the Defendants wrongly failed to install a separate electric supply meter. According to the Plaintiffs, they have complied with all the terms and conditions for the installation thereof. According to the Defendants, the meter could not have been installed as the Plaintiff has failed to comply with the terms and : 4 : conditions for the installation of a meter. This despite is beyond the scope of the suit. It would be necessary for the Plaintiff to adopt independent proceedings for challenging any fresh bill on this basis. 6. Mr.Vashi seeks time to do so. 7. In the circumstances, there shall be no order on the present Notice of Motion. The Plaintiff is at liberty to adopt independent proceedings to challenge the bills subsequent to the said order dated 13.4.2007. For a period of four weeks from today subject to the Plaintiff depositing or paying the amounts as per the order dated 13.4.2007 and in particular clause 2 thereof, the electric supply shall not be disconnected. Needless to add that the Plaintiff will be entitled to the credit for the amounts that they have already paid.