Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court has made it clear to a man from Hyderabad’s Nampally that electricity connections cannot be granted merely on a promise to submit an Occupancy Certificate (OC) later.
The court stated that it cannot remain a spectator to such irregular practices, especially since assurances given earlier in similar cases were violated.
The case arose from a petition filed by Mohammed Arif Rizwan of Nampally. He challenged the denial of an electricity connection to a five-storey building constructed with Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) approvals.
His counsel argued that the building was built per GHMC permissions and that all electricity charges had already been paid. However, the Telangana State Southern Power Distribution Company Limited (TSSPDCL) insisted that an OC must be produced before granting a permanent connection.
Also Read
Telangana HC warns HYDRAA officials on defying orders in lake encroachment case
The petitioner requested that the court issue directions to TSSPDCL to release power immediately, stating that he would submit the OC within a stipulated timeframe.
TSSPDCL’s arguments
Countering this, TSSPDCL’s counsel N Sridhar Reddy submitted that in many past cases, parties had taken electricity connections by giving similar undertakings to the Court but later failed to submit occupancy certificates, thereby abusing the process.
After hearing both sides, Justice Nagesh Bheemapaka observed that several such instances of misuse had indeed come before the Court. Taking this pattern into account, the judge said, “We cannot grant electricity connections merely based on assurances to submit OC later.”
The court directed the petitioner to approach GHMC for the Occupancy Certificate. It further instructed that once the OC is submitted, the electricity authorities must provide a connection following the rules.
