An electricity connection cannot be denied to the occupant of a property on grounds of the title being disputed: High Court of Delhi

IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI Judgment delivered on: 25th August 2021 W.P.(C) 7846 2021 SANJANA Petitioner BSES YAMUNA POWER LTD Respondent Advocates who appeared in this case: For the Petitioner : Mr. Harbeer S. Chadha Advocate For the Respondents : Mr. Rishabh Raj Jain Advocate CORAM: HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE SANJEEV SACHDEVA SANJEEV SACHDEVA J. The hearing was conducted through video conferencing. Petitioner seeks a direction to the respondent to grant an electricity connection to the property of the petitioner being House No. 545 Baba Farid Puri Patel Nagar New Delhi. It is contended that petitioner has been residing in the subject property since her marriage in 2014. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that connection has not been provided on the W.P. (C)7846 2021 ground that petitioner has applied for a connection for house No. 545 however house of the petitioner is not 545. Learned counsel for the respondent under instructions submits that the house of the petitioner is right next to a Shiv Mandir which bears a number 515. He however concedes that the numbering in the area is not systematic. A rough site plan has been filed which has been prepared after an inspection which states that there is a property by the number 140 545 which is at a distance of about 60 meter from the site for which connection has been applied for. Learned counsel for the respondent submits that the exact number of the property of the petitioner could not be identified as there was no other indication except for the contention of the petitioner. It is further submitted that complaint has been received on 28.07.2014 from the Shiv Mandir Charitable Trust contending that one Smt. Kaushalaya used to reside in the Mandir for cleaning the temple premises and her son along with his wife and children had started residing in the Mandir illegally and they are seeking to have an electricity meter installed. Learned counsel for the respondent submits that the complaint alleges that the portion of the petitioner is property no. 515 which he W.P. (C)7846 2021 is claiming to be property no. 545 and that is the reason why the electricity connection could not be granted. Perusal of the documents filed along with the petition show that petitioner her husband and children all have Aadhar Cards issued by the Government of India at the address House No 545 Baba Farid Puri West Patel Nagar Central Delhi. Further petitioner has placed on record a ration card which has been approved by the Food Supply Officer on 15.10.2014 which also mentions the address as 545 Baba Farid Puri West Patel Nagar. Voter ID Card of the petitioner has also been placed on record of the same address. It is clear that petitioner has several documents which have been issued by the Government authorities showing that she is a resident of house no. 545 Baba Farid Puri West Patel Nagar New Delhi. There is no material placed on record by the respondent to counter this or to show that the property she is occupying bears some number other than house no. 545. In view of the above Respondents are directed to grant an electricity connection to the petitioner subject to petitioner complying with the commercial and other formalities as per the rules. W.P. (C)7846 2021 It is clarified that the grant of electricity connection or this order would not confer any special equities in favour of the petitioner and would not be construed as conferring or recognising the title of the petitioner to the said property or with regard to the identity of the said property. 13. Petition is allowed in the above terms. 14. Copy of the order be uploaded on the High Court website and be also forwarded to learned counsels through email by the Court AUGUST 25 2021 SANJEEV SACHDEVA J W.P. (C)7846 2021 

Summary: The electricity distributors cannot deny a connection to the occupier of a property on grounds of a title dispute of the mentioned property. This was held in the judgement passed by a single member bench of the High Court of Delhi consisting of Honourable Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva in the case of Sanjana v BSES Yamuna Power Ltd [W.P. (C) 7846/2021] pronounced on the 25th of August 2021. The petitioner, Sanjana resides in House No. 545 which is situated close to a shiv mandir in Patel Nagar, New Delhi since the time of her marriage in 2014. She applied for an electricity connection for her house which has been refused by the respondent on grounds that her house is not House of 545. The complainant, shiv mandir charitable trust alleged that one Kaushalya used to reside on the temple premise, now her son, wife and children have begun to live there without permission and the son’s wife Sanjana is seeking to have an electricity meter installed. The respondent, BSES Yamuna Power Ltd now contended that the house number of the petitioner ought to be 515 and that due to the disputed title, they would not grant electricity connection to the petitioner’s house. The perusal of the petitioner’s documents indicated and the petitioner, her husband and children all had valid Aadhaar Cards issued by the Government of India at House No. 545, Baba Farid Puri West Patel Nagar in Central Delhi. Additionally the petitioner also proved that her ration card which was approved by the Food Supply Officer on 15th October 2014 mentioned her address as House No. 545 and not 515. The court noted that the Respondent’s claim that the petitioner’s House No. was 515 was in fact baseless as there was no documentary evidence showing that she resided in any house other than House No. 545. It was further observed by the Court that since an electricity connection did not in any way confer a title to the occupant of a property, the occupant could not be denied a connection of grounds of a title dispute by the electricity providers.