THE EXECUTIVE ENGINEER AND ANR. versus M/S SRI SEETARAM RICE MILL

Citation: [2011] 15 S.C.R. 211 · Decided: 20-10-2011 · Supreme Court of India · Bench: S.H. KAPADIA · Disposal: Appeal(s) allowed

Cited by 6 judgment(s) · cites 1 · see the full citation network in Lexace

Judgment (excerpt)

[2011] 15 (ADDL.) S.C.R. 211 
THE EXECUTIVE ENGINEER AND ANR. 
v. 
M/S SRI SEETARAM RICE MILL 
(Civil Appeal No. 8859 of 2011) 
OCTOBER 20, 2011 
[S.H. KAPADIA, CJI., K.S. RADHAKRISHNAN AND 
SWATANTER KUMAR, JJ.] 
Electricity Act, 2003: 
Salient features of the Act - Discussed. 
Legislative history and object of enactment - Discussed. 
s. 126 - Applicability of - Held: Consumption of electricity 
A 
B 
c 
in excess of sanctioned load would be unauthorized use of D 
electricity and would attract applicability of s. 126 of the Act. 
s. 126 - Scope of, with reference to construction of the 
words 'unauthorized use' and 'means' - Discussed. 
s. 126 and s. 135 - Distinction between - Discussed. 
s. 126 - Assessment and computation under - Manner 
·of - Discussed. 
E 
s. 127 - Appealable order - Held: In view of the language 
F 
of s.127 of the Act, only a final order of assessment passed 
uls.126(3) is an order appealable uls.127 and a notice-cum-
provisional assessment made uls.126(2) is not appealable -
Thus, the High Court should normally decline to interfere in 
a final order of assessment passed by the assessing officer G 
in terms of s. 126(3) of the Act in exercise of its jurisdiction 
under Article 226 of the Constitution of India. 
s. 127 - Statutory alternative remedy available u/s. 127 of 
the Act - Writ petition - Scope of interference with provisional 
211 
ti 
212 
SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2011) 15 (ADDL.) S.C.R. 
A order of assessment/show cause notice - Held: Keeping in 
view the functions and expertise of the specialized body 
constituted under the Act including the assessing officer, it 
would be proper exercise of jurisdiction, if writ court upon 
entertaining and deciding the writ petition on a 1urisdictiona/ 
B issue, remand the matter to the competent authority for its 
adjudication on merits and in accordance with law- If exercise 
of jurisdiction by the Tribunal ex facie appears to be an 
exercise of jurisdiction in futility then it will be permissible for 
the High Court to interfere in exercise of its jurisdiction - In 
c · the instant case, the respondents-consumers were required 
to fife objections as contemplated uls. 126 (3) of the Act 
against the provisional order of assessment- It was only when 
a final order of assessment was passed that the respondents 
could prefer a statutory appeal which, admittedly, was not done 
0 in the case in hand - High Court did not commit any error of 
jurisdiction in entertaining the wn"f petition against the order 
raising a jurisdictional challenge to the notice/provisional 
assessment order - However, High Court transgressed its 
jurisdictional /imitations while travelling into the exclusive 
E domain of the Assessing Officer relating to passing of an order 
of assessment and determining factual controversy of the 
case - Constitution ·of India, 1950 - Article 226. 
Constitution of India, 1950: 
F 
Article 226 - Scope of interference with tr1e provisional 
order of assessment/show cause notice - Discussed. 
Article 226 - Alternative remedy - Maintainability of writ 
petition - Discussed. 
G 
Interpretation of statutes: 
Purposive interpretation - Held: The statute should be 
read as a whole - Its different provisions may have to be 
construed together to make consistent construction of the 
H whole statute relating to the subject matter - A construction 
1 
EXECUTIVE ENGINEER AND ANR. v. SRI 
213 
. SEETARAM RICE MILL 
which will improve the workability of the statute, to be more A 
effective and purposive, should be preferred to any other 
interpretation which may lead to undesirable results. 
Expression 'means', 'means and includes' and 'does not 
include' - Held: When the Legislature has used a particular 8 
expression out of these three, it must be given its plain 
meaning while even keeping in mind that the use of other two 
expressions has not been favoured by the Legislature. 
of. 
Fiscal and penal laws - Interpretation of. 
Object and reason of enactment - Relevancy of. 
Discussions of Standing Committee - Relevancy of. 
Words and phrases: 
Word 'dishonest', 'authorisation', 'malpractice' - Meaning 
Word 'means' - Meaning of, in· the context of s. 126 of the 
Electricity Act, 2003 - Discussed. 
Expression 'unauthorised use of electricity' - Meaning of, 
in the context of s.126 of the Electricity Act, 2003 -
Discussed. 
c 
D 
E 
An agreement was entered into between appellant 
F 
no.1 and the respondent for supply of power to the 
respondent. The resp

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