TMI Blog1997 (3) TMI 600X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... . JEEVAN REDDY, K.S. PARIPOORNAN, JJ. JUDGMENT B.P. JEEVAN REDDY, J. Civil Appeals [Arising out of SLP (C) Nos.6588/94, 21905-06/93, 21913-14/93, 6479/94 23250/94 Leave granted in Special Leave Petitions. These appeals are preferred against the judgment of a Division Bench of the Allahabad High Court dismissing the writ petitions filed by the appellants. The appellants are large consumers of electricity. By a Notification dated April 21, 1990, the Uttar Pradesh State Electricity Board had revised the electricity Board had revised the electricity rates/tariffs under Section 49 of the Electricity (Supply) Act, 1948. The Notification inter alia provided for payment of interest in case the bill amount is not paid within the specified period. Clause 7(b) read as follows: 7(b) For delayed payment: In the event of any bill of whatever nature it may be not being paid by the due date specified therein, the consumer shall pay an additional charge per day of seven paise per hundred rupees or part thereof on the unpaid amount of the bill for the period by which the payment is delayed, beyond the due dated specified in the bill, without prejud ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ition the petitions shall deposit with the relevant authority within a period of one month from the date of dismissal of the writ petition the difference between the amount of electricity dues, which will be paid hereinafter by the petitioners under our order and the sum which may be calculated on the basis of the impugned notification. [Emphasis added] All the said writ petitions challenging the said Notification were ultimately dismissed by a Division Bench on March 1, 1993. From this stage onwards, we will refer to the facts and contentions in civil appeal arising from Special Leave Petition (C) No.6588 of 1990 [preferred by M/s. Kanoria Chemicals and Industries Limited], as representative of the facts and contention in all the matters being disposed of under this judgment. Though the individual facts vary, the questions arising in these appeals are common. After the dismissal of the writ petitions on March 1, 1993 as aforesaid, Kanoria says, it deposited the difference amount between pre-revised and the revised electricity rates. It did not, however, deposit the additional charges leviable under clause 7(b), referred to above, which are generally referred to - and r ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... y of the Notification was not at all in issue in Adoni Ginning and, therefore, it cannot be said that there is any decision on the said question. Affirming the opt-repeated principle that a decision is an authority only for what it actually decides, the learned Judge opined that the consumers are liable to pay the late payment surcharge under clause 7(b) of the said Notification even for the period covered by the aforementioned order dated July 25, 1990 [as extended from time to time]. The learned Judge also pointed out that the interim orders passed in various writ petitions were not uniform and by way illustration set out in the interim order in Writ Petition No.30097 of 1990 [quoted by us hereinabove]. The correctness of the judgment is called in question in this batch of appeals. Sri R. Vaidyanathan, who lead the arguments on behalf of the appellants, submitted that the impugned decision of the High Court is clearly contrary to the principles enunciated by this Court in Adoni Ginning and cannot, therefore, stand. Counsel relied upon another order this Court dated April 23, 1996 in special leave Petition (C) No.9087-88 of 1996 [M/s. Hindalco Industries Limited v. State of Utt ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... s operation. The writ appeal preferred by the Board were, however, allowed by a Division Bench against which decision some of the consumers approach this Court again. It is, therefore, clear that the only dispute in Adoni Ginning pertained to the liability of the consumers to pay surcharge @ twelve percent per annum on the amount not collected from them under the orders of injunction granted by this Court pending their appeals. It is significant to notice that the dispute in the said case did not pertain to the liability of the consumers to pay the surcharge amount for the period covered by the order of stay granted by the High Court; the Board did not choose to demand any surcharge for that period. The contention of the appellants in Adoni Ginning was that by virtue of the injunction order granted by this Court, the consumers cannot be said to be in default in paying the electricity charges and, therefore, no surcharge was leviable. The contention was rejected by this Court [D.A. Desai and O. Chinnappa Reddy, JJ.]. The Court pointed out that according to clause (9), a consumer was liable to pay the bill amount within thirty days, in default of which he was liable to pay an additi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... upon the portions underlined in the above passage as a decision supporting their contention that where the operation of Government Order is stayed, no surcharge can be demanded upon the amount withheld. We find it difficult to agree. In our respectful opinion, the underlined portions do not constitute the decision of the court. They merely refer to the fact that the Board itself did not make a demand for surcharge amount in respect of the period covered by stay under its own understanding of the effect of the stayed order granted by the High Court and that it was justified in its opinion. The demand was , the court pointed out, in respect of the period covered by the order of injunction granted by this Court. This Court held expressly that the grant of and injunction does not relieve the consumers of their obligation to pay the charges at the enhanced rates and, therefore, the demand for surcharge/interest for such period is not illegal. The portions underlined cannot be understood as laying down the proposition that in respect of the period covered by stay, no demand can be made. No such proposition can be deduced from the said passage for the reason that the liability for the sa ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... for an injunction when they came to Supreme Court. Furthermore, as pointed out rightly by the High Court, the order of the stay granted by the High Court in writ petitions questioning the validity of the Notification dated April 21, 1990 were not uniform. In the case of writ petition filed by the Eastern U.P. Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Allahabad, the operation of the Notification was stayed while in the case of the writ petition filed by the Employers Association of Northern India, it was directed that effect shall not be given to the notification dated 21st April, 1990 as against the petitioner shall deposit with the relevant authority within a period of one month from the date of dismissal of the writ petition the difference between the amount of electricity dues to be paid hereinafter by the petitioner under our orders and the sum which may be calculated on the basis of the impugned notification . The words sum which may be calculated on the basis of the impugned notification in the later order clearly mean and include the late payment surcharge as well. The acceptance of the appellants' argument would thus bring about a discrimination between a petitioner and a p ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... idyanathan contended that the rate of `late payment surcharge' provided by clause 7(b) is really penal in nature inasmuch as it works out to 25.5 percent per annum. Learned counsel also submitted that the petitioners understood the decision in Adoni Ginning as relieving them of their obligation to pay interest for the period covered by the interim order and that since they were acting bonafide they should not be mulcted with such high rate of interest. We cannot agree that the rate of late payment surcharge provided by clause 7(b) is penal, but having regard to the particular facts and circumstances of this case and having regard to the fact that petitioners could possibly have understood the decision in Adoni Ginning as relieving them of their obligation to pay interest/late payment surcharge for the period of stay, we reduce the rate of late payment surcharge payable under clause 7(b) to eighteen percent. But this direction is confined only to the period covered by the stay orders in writ petitions filed challenging the Notification dated April 21, 1990 and limited to March 1, 1993, the date on which those writ petitions were dismissed. For the above reasons, the appeals f ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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