My PIL for quality power supply

Text of the order issued by the Honourable High Court of Karnataka on 4/12/2024, against the PIL No: WP 15147/2022 (GM-KEB-PIL), between Mr Muralidhar Rao (appearing as Party in Person), and 

1) THE STATE OF KARNATAKA, represented by The Chief Secretary, Government of Karnataka,

2) The Chairman, Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission,

3) The Managing Director, Bangalore Electricity Supply Co Ltd,

4) The Chairman, Karnataka State Pollution Control Board,

 

THIS WRIT PETITION IS FILED UNDER ARTICLES 226 AND 227 OF THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA, PRAYING TO ISSUE A WRIT OF MANDAMUS DIRECTING THE GOVERNMENT OF KARNATAKA TO PREPARE A PLAN FOR MAKING BESCOM (AS ALSO THE OTHER ESCOMS) CAPABLE OF PROVIDING CLEAN, POLLUTION-FREE, SAFE, AFFORDABLE AND UNINTERRUPTED POWER SUPPLY & ETC. THIS WRIT PETITION HAVING BEEN HEARD AND RESERVED FOR JUDGMENT, COMING ON FOR PRONOUNCEMENT THIS DAY, JUDGMENT WAS PRONOUNCED AS UNDER: 

 

CORAM: HON'BLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE MR. JUSTICE N. V. ANJARIA and HON'BLE MR JUSTICE K.V. ARAVIND C.A.V. JUDGMENT (PER: HON'BLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE MR. JUSTICE N. V. ANJARIA)

 

The present is a public interest petition in which the petitioner prayed to direct the Government of Karnataka to prepare a plan for making the Bangalore Electricity Supply Company Limited (BESCOM) as well as the other electricity supply companies such as, Mangalore Electricity Supply Company Limited (MESCOM), Hubli Electricity

Supply Company Limited (HESCOM), Kalaburagi-Gulbarga Electricity Supply Company Limited (GESCOM) and Mysuru-Chamundeshwari Electricity Supply Corporation (CESC) to make capable these companies to provide clean, pollution-free, safe and uninterrupted power supply. 

 

2. It was also prayed to direct the Government to restructure the entire electricity distribution system in the State in light of Delhi and Odisha models by introducing privatization of distribution. The petitioner claims to be a public spirited person. 

 

3. It was the case that earlier he was engaged in electrical industry and later he gave up his business interest and now he has been an observer of developments in the field. It was claimed that his source of information is mainly media. 

 

3.1 The aforesaid prayers are advanced by contending that the BESCOM has the responsibility of power distribution in eight districts of Karnataka whereas, the other electricity companies namely, Mangalore Electricity Supply Company Limited (MESCOM), Hubli Electricity Supply Company Limited (HESCOM), Kalaburagi-Gulbarga Electricity Supply Company Limited (GESCOM) and Mysuru-Chamundeshwari Electricity Supply Corporation (CESC) are entrusted with distribution of power in the respective districts. 

3.2 Focusing on the functioning of the BESCOM, it was the case put forward that its performance for the past few years has been poor. It was claimed that the city of Bengaluru has been plagued with regular power cuts and power interruptions as well as voltage fluctuations. It was stated that in a city like Bengaluru which produces goods and services of high quality, interruptions in the power supply lead to bad or worse results. It was also mentioned that frequency of power interruptions increases in monsoon season. It was ironically contended that such state of affairs are prevalent in the State which is power surplus State and is exporting its excess power. Yet, the State has been facing the problem of poor distribution of electricity in view of non-qualitative performance of the BESCOM and other electricity companies. 

3.3 It was next stated that serious safety concerns have arisen because of the inefficient functioning of the BESCOM. A news item in Times of India dated 23.06.2021 was referred to highlight that a mishap occurred resulting in the death of two workers when they touched a wire mesh which was apparently in contact of a live wire when those workers had been attending to nature's call. Another incident of a dog and its owner getting shocks was mentioned. It had happened when the dog sniffed at the base of a lamp-post on the recently upgraded side-walks. Yet another incident of death of 55 year old man who died out of 70% burn injuries caused by a transformer burst was highlighted. He was riding a motorcycle with his 19 year old daughter sitting as a pillion rider who suffered 50% burns and went into critical condition in the hospital. This episode was mentioned by citing the news clipping dated 24.03.2022 from Deccan Herald newspaper. 

3.4 It was claimed by the petitioner that the functioning of the BESCOM has been poor and lacks in quality in terms of maintenance, distribution and ensuring uninterrupted supply of power whereas, other cities of the country such as, Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Surat etc., have been enjoying nearly 100% reliable supply of electricity. It was stated that Delhi Electricity Regulation Commission (DISCOM) achieved comprehensive reforms and that, its reliability level is from 70% to 99.51%. It was sought to be pointed out that because of the poor functional capacity of the BESCOM, Bengaluru is becoming more and more dependent on gensets which results into high level consumption of diesel. In that regard, the petitioner supplied the figures which are based on the number of flats and average number of family members staying in one flat which would use the gensets and consume diesel. 

3.5 It was claimed also that the use of gensets would result into smoke and noise pollution. The petitioner urged that the BESCOM and other electricity companies in the State of Karnataka have to be guided to reform its power supply mechanism to bring it to the desired level of efficiency. It was further alleged that the electricity companies have become incapacitated and 'non-performing asset' to pay to their main suppliers that is, the Karnataka Power Corporation Limited (KPCL). It was stated by the petitioner that he has been raising the matter at various levels in the BESCOM, but nothing yielded yet. It was stated that the demand of the day is to attend to the consumers' grievance who are using the electricity and bring out a quality level performance by the electricity companies by adopting various means. 

 

4. It was contended that the consumers of electricity in the city of Bengaluru and in the State have right to clean and non-polluting supply of electricity without disruptions in their day-to-day affairs. It was next submitted that the inefficiencies in the distribution of power by the electricity companies have resulted in huge costs and loss to the State. It was thirdly submitted that safety issues are ignored in not attending to the needs of efficient and regular electricity supply. 

4.1 The petition was responded by respondent No.3-the BESCOM which filed its statement of objections to submit inter alia that it has been making consistent efforts to improve the quality and duration of power supply in the areas falling under its jurisdiction and that in the last four to five years, there has been noticeable transformation in the quality of power supply. It was claimed that respondent No.3 is responsible for distribution of supply of electricity in eight districts of the State of Karnataka namely, Bengaluru Urban, Bengaluru Rural, Chikkaballapura, Davanagere, Tumakuru, Chitradurga and Ramanagara which are divided into four operating zones. 

4.2 It was stated that the BESCOM carries a motto to provide uninterrupted and reliable power supply by making all efforts. It was stated that the power supply in the urban areas including the city of Bengaluru has increased from 23 hours and 39 minutes per day in the year 2018-19 to 23 hours and 47 minutes per day in the year 2022-23. 

4.3 In the statement of objections, the following further aspects are highlighted, 

(i) The electricity demand and consumption has increased manifold over the years which makes it difficult to cope up with the every need of electricity in various sectors. 

(ii) Over the past five years, the BESCOM has made huge capital expenditure and investment in various model sub-division, re-conductoring of HT and LT lines, auto re-closure to 11 KV lines. Conversion of overhead cables to under ground cables in the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) areas have been acted upon. 

(iii) Approximately, Rs.13,690 crores is spent towards improvement of the infrastructure during the financial years from 2018-2019 to 2022-2023. The sizeable 

expenditure and investment made by the company has resulted into significantly increase in the quantum of infrastructure and the network coverage. 62 numbers of 66/11 KV sub-stations are added to the network. The number of 11 KV feeders added in different categories are 998 in numbers. 

(iv) 1,33,874 distribution transformers have been added and the activity is undertaken to convert primary and secondary distribution network from overhead to underground for which, in the past five years, 12,219 kilometers of cables have been converted from overhead to underground, which would increase the efficiency and 

continuity of electricity supply. 

(v) The number of consumers served by the electricity company has also exponentially increased to total 20,90,502 in the years 2018-19 and 2022-2023. 

(vi) The customer help-line and support centers with expert team and managers were established to work in different shifts and there is also a buffer staff available to manage the customer support system. 

(vii) Third Saturday of every month is observed as 'safety day' to ensure that safety awareness is increased. In times of natural calamities, significant quantum of 

infrastructure is maintained. The damaged transformers and poles are repaired and the lines across long kilometers whenever damaged are immediately attended to, claiming that the BESCOM has been striving to provide quality service diligently. 

4.4 The case in the petition was denied to state that the power interruptions did not happen because of technical inefficiency, they occur because of natural calamites and during monsoon season. The statement that the State has been facing distribution difficulties in the area of electricity is a misleading statement and that the State of Karnataka depends upon non-renewable energy sources for about 50% of electricity. It was submitted that accidents do not occur only because of negligence of the company, but often the victims are the major contributors because of their negligence. The BESCOM also answered the incidents of death of the workers and the dog and its owner receiving shocks are not the fault of the company. 

4.5 About Delhi Power Distribution company, it was submitted it is not comparable inasmuch as the DISCOM caters to only 15.8 lakhs of consumers whereas, the BESCOM has crores of consumers to be catered to. The increase in the duration of power supply every day came to be highlighted and it was further delineated that various measures are undertaken that safety standards are adverted to by respondent No.3. 

 

5. Having noticed the grievance sought to be raised in the public interest litigation, the stand of the BESCOM and in view of the totality of facts, there are more than one weighted reasons as to why the present public interest litigation could not be entertained. 

5.1 Firstly, though the petitioner claims to be an independent public spirited person, it is stated by him that he was earlier engaged in the electrical industry, that he subsequently decided to give up his business and now involved himself as observer and commentator in the development of the field of electricity. On the other hand, his source of information is stated to be only newspapers. The petitioner has himself stated that he had floated his own company which was a major supplier in the transformer industry, both in India and abroad including countries like Australia and South Africa. It was claimed that the company's membership was large and it operated for a while. 

5.2 Thus, it is clear that the petitioner was associated with the transformer industry and he had a company of his own in the very field. He sold out his industry and has now engaged in the field of free lance consultancy. It cannot be said that when the petitioner is engaged in consultancy in the same field and subject, he has no 

private interest. This aspect renders the locus of the petitioner too weak to be accepted as public interest litigant. 

5.3 In addition to the above, what is sought to be prayed is to restructure the distribution system. This aspect is entirely a technical aspect and is in the realm of policy of respondent No.1-State. The pros and cons of such demand could be best judged by the experts in the field. It is overall a technical matter of policy decision. The privatization of distribution of electricity supply system as sought to be claimed by the petitioner may also have a large scale repercussions. Therefore, it requires application of mind at the expert level. 

5.4 In any view of the case, from the contents of the affidavit reply filed by respondent No.3-the BESCOM, it could hardly be said that the respondents are not alert to their duty to ensure efficient, safe and uninterrupted quality supply of electricity to the areas which falls within the jurisdiction of the BESCOM. The measures regarding maintenance and repair as well as bringing of new installations and equipments are adopted. The supply level is also increased and it is stated that in the year 2022-23, the supply level achieved is 23 hours and 47 minutes per day. There is no gainsaying that the respondents could strive to maintain and act efficiently in providing quality power supply which is essential for growth of any industrial sector and for satisfactory performance of any social service units. 

 

6. No case is made out to grant any relief to the petitioner in this public interest petition. 

 

7. The petition is dismissed