Guntur Tobaccos Ltd vs The Transmission Coprn. Of A.P. & Anr

2. As it appears from the materials on record, the appellant herein, Guntur Power and Light Limited, hereinafter referred as "GPL", was incorporated for the purpose of running an Electrical Undertaking to supply electricity to the Guntur area of Andhra Pradesh. It was granted a licence for the aforesaid purpose under the provisions of the Indian Electricity Act, 1910 and acquired various properties for the Undertaking.

5. In 1956, the Government of Andhra Pradesh acquired the Electrical Undertaking from GPL in exercise of its powers under the Andhra Pradesh Electricity Supply Undertaking Acquisition Act, 1954, whereupon the Undertaking of GPL vested in the State Government with effect from 1st May, 1956. Upon such vesting, the demised premises, along with the land and buildings situated thereupon, became the property of the State Government by virtue of such acquisition. The Transmission Corporation of Andhra Pradesh, being the respondent No. 1 herein, was formed on 1st April, 1959, under Section 5 of the Electricity Supply Act, 1948, and pursuant to its policy the State Government transferred the Undertaking of GPL with all its assets to the Andhra Pradesh State Electricity Board, which became the owner of the said properties.

Corporation, GTC continued to remain in possession of the properties in question purportedly on the strength of the Lease Deeds executed by GPL in its favour. According to the respondent No. 1 Corporation, in 1961 the Lease Deeds executed by GPL in favour of GTC came to be scrutinized and it was noticed that GPL had executed the leases in favour of GTC without obtaining requisite sanction of the Government in terms of Section 9(2) of the Indian Electricity Act, 1910 which rendered the Lease Deeds void. The Andhra Pradesh State Electricity Board was of the view that the possession of GTC was in the nature of a licence and GTC was entitled to remain in possession as long as the respondent No. 1 Corporation, as owner of the property, permitted it to do so. Consequent thereupon, the respondent No. 1 Corporation issued a letter on 9th January, 1962, to the appellant informing it that the Lease Deeds executed in its favour were void and it was also called upon to vacate the demised premises and to deliver possession thereof to the respondent No. 1 Corporation. The appellant responded to the said letter by a lawyer's notice dated 22nd January, 1962, contending that it was entitled to remain in possession of the demised property till 1971. The appellant continued to remain in possession of the demised property even after expiry of the lease and instead of vacating the same sought to exercise its option of purchase of the said properties by a notice dated 29th October, 1969. On 26th March, 1971, the respondent No. 1 Corporation by its letter called upon GTC to quit the suit properties and surrender the possession thereof to the Electricity Board by 1st January, 1972. An attempt to arrive at an amicable settlement having failed, the respondent No. 1 Corporation filed a suit, being O.S. No. 15 of 1973, in the Court of Additional Subordinate Judge, Guntur, against GTC in 1972 seeking its eviction from the suit property, being the demised properties, on the ground that the leases in question executed and registered in favour of GTC were not valid and that GTC was liable to be evicted as mere licensees of the respondent No. 1 Corporation. The appellant herein contested the suit by filing written statement contending that although GPL had been incorporated for the purpose of distributing electricity in Guntur area and was also a licensee under the Indian Electricity Act, 1910, for the generation and distribution of electricity in the said area, in 1938 it ceased its operations relating to generation of electricity and confined itself to distribution of power only. According to the appellant, since the suit properties were no longer used by GPL from 1939 for the purposes of the Electricity Undertaking or for any other connected purpose, from 1939 it ceased to be part of the Undertaking for the purposes of generation and distribution of electricity and the Lease Deeds executed by GPL in favour of GTC were not, therefore, hit by the provisions of Section 9(2) and (3) of the Indian Electricity Act, 1910. It was also contended that since the suit properties had ceased to be part and parcel of the Electricity Undertaking after 1939, it could not have vested in the Andhra Pradesh State Electricity Board or the State Government and consequently the appellant was entitled to remain in possession of the suit properties at least till the end of 1971, particularly, when the respondent No. 1 Corporation had accepted the rents from the appellant herein in the manner stipulated in the Lease Deeds and had even issued receipts therefor. It was contended that because of the conduct of the respondent No. 1 Corporation it was estopped from disowning such relationship and could not treat the appellant as a licensee.

7. On the basis of the pleadings, initially five issues were framed, namely: -

23. We have carefully considered the submissions of the respective parties and do not find any reason to disagree with the view taken by the Division Bench of the High Court, in dismissing the Letters Patent Appeal. Having regard to the opinion given by the Government Solicitor, the finding arrived at by the High Court regarding the implied consent of the State Government does not require any interference.

25. In view of the above, we find no merit in the appeal and the same is accordingly dismissed, but without any order as to costs.