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Judgment
The Writ petition is filed for the following reliefs:
“i)For issuing the Writ in nature of mandamus for directing the concerned respondents to make necessary correction in the electricity bill which is in the name of petitioner's deceased husband and which has come inappropriately high without considering the fact that no such high consumption of electricity is taking place in the said premises
(ii)For directing the respondents has to consider the fact as the petitioner deceased husband was paying Rs. 35,000/- per month installment of the electricity bill from the pensions which was meant for his livelihood and the only source of income during his old age.
(iii)For the direction to the concerned respondents to take action against the erring officials who are responsible for such big error and later on chose not to rectify it and the petitioner is paying the huge cost of it.
(iv)For that the respondents may be directed to pay the compensation amount with the statutory interest of 8% to the petitioner who has till date paid more than 13 lakhs as the electricity bill apart giving several representations to the concerned authorities.
(v)For any other relief / reliefs for which the petitioner is found entitled to.”
At the outset, the Learned counsel appearing for the respondents submitted that the petitioner has an alternative and efficacious statutory remedy of approaching the Consumer Grievances Redressal Forum under Section 42(5) of the Electricity Act, 2003, in respect of the grievance raised in the present Writ petition.
The Learned counsel for the respondents further placed reliance upon the orders passed by coordinate Benches of this Court in CWJC No. 4670 of 2023 (Shashi Bhushan Singh vs. The State of Bihar & Ors.) and CWJC No. 7317 of 2026 (Ayodhya Nath Rai vs. The State of Bihar & Ors.), wherein similar matters were disposed of with liberty to the petitioners to avail the statutory remedy available to them.
Accordingly, the Learned counsel for the respondents prayed that the present Writ petition may also be disposed of on similar terms.
Heard the Learned counsel for the parties.
Admittedly, from the reliefs prayed for in the Writ petition, it is evident that the petitioner has alternative and efficacious remedy of approaching the Consumer Grievances Redressal Forum under Section 42(5) of the Electricity Act.
Having regard to the fact that the petitioner has an alternative and efficacious remedy of approaching the Consumer Grievances Redressal Forum under Section 42(5) of the Electricity Act, 2003, in respect of the reliefs sought in paragraph 1 of the Writ petition, this Court is not inclined to entertain the present Writ petition.
Without going into the merits or demerits of the case, the present Writ petition is, accordingly, disposed of with liberty to the petitioner to avail the statutory remedy by approaching the Consumer Grievances Redressal Forum for redressal of his grievance within a period of one month from today.
In the event such an application is filed within the aforesaid period, the concerned authority shall consider and dispose of the same on its own merits and in accordance with law, without going into the question of limitation, as expeditiously as possible and preferably within a period of three months from the date of filing of such application.
It is needless to mention that before passing any orders, the petitioner shall be given an opportunity of hearing. Any orders passed shall be communicated to the petitioner.
With the above direction, the present Writ petition stands disposed of.
Interlocutory Application(s), if any, shall stand disposed of.