Skip to main content

Fixing higher electricity tariff for self-financed educational institution legally valid

In KERALA STATE ELECTRICITY BOARD REP. BY ITS SECRETARY & ANR. vs  PRINCIPAL SIR SYED INSTITUTE FOR TECHNICAL STUDIES & ANR, the issue before the Supreme Court was the tariff notification issued by the Kerala State Electricity Regulatory Commission  segregating Self-Financing Educational Institutions (SFEI) from Government run and Government Aided Private Educational Institutions and subjecting the former to a higher category of tariff. It was urged that tariff for SFEIs could not be brought under the head “Commercial”. 

Referring to various judgments, the court decided that SFEIs are not permitted to indulge in profiteering but that does not imply they cannot generate reasonable revenue surplus to enable them to continue with their activities. While an educational institution in our ordinary perception may not be performing functions similar to the other entities who undertake business ventures, a tariff fixing body is not required to proceed on the basis of such common perception. The duty of such body is to determine which rate an organisation shall pay, and entities working in diverse fields can be clubbed together under a common umbrella to be subjected to a common rate. In that context, for exercise of this nature, the heading “commercial” cannot be constructed to restrict the entities that can come under that head on the basis of the nature of their activities, i.e. whether such activities have commercial attributes or not. Selection of heading is an exercise of convenience in fixing tariff rates and not necessarily the controlling factor in choosing the entities included under that heading. 

Agreeing with the Commission, the Supreme Court observed that writ petitioners’ contention is that the reason of their formation or existence is imparting education and this is so for the Government run and aided institutions also. On this  basis, they argue that different tariffs could not be charged to these two sets of institutions. We are, however, unable to accept this argument. The facilities provided by Govt. & Private institutions are different, it is of common knowledge, of which we take judicial notice, that the student profile of state run and state aided institutions is different from those of SFEIs. Students from comparatively modest background go to the State run or State funded institutions. The State run and State aided institutions are funded by the tax payers, which is also a material factor in making distinction between the aforesaid categories of the institutions. While funding educational institutions, the State undertakes to discharge one of its essential welfare measures. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Most viewed this month

Partition proceedings are vitiated even if single co-sharer is not made party or is not served in accordance with law

Cause Title :  Bhagwant Singh vs  Financial Commissioner (Appeals) Punjab, Chandigarh,  CWP-2132-2018 (O&M), High Court Of Punjab & Haryana At Chandigarh Date of Judgment/Order : 31.08.2022 Corum : Hon’ble Mr. Justice Sudhir Mittal Background A large parcel of land was owned by the Nagar Panchayat. Thereafter, some of the co-sharers sold their shares to third parties including the petitioners herein. On 22.11.1995, respondents No.3 to 5 filed an application for partition of the land. The petitioners were not impleaded as parties.  On completion of proceedings, sanad was issued on 28.08.1996. Vide two separate sale deeds dated 28.05.2008 respondents No.3 and 5 sold some portion in favour of respondent No.6 and 7. These respondents sought implementation of the sanad resulting in issuance of warrants of possession dated 05.06.2008. Allegedly, it was then that the petitioners realized that joint land had been partitioned and that proceedings h...
Post a Comment
Read more

Power of Attorney holder can also file cheque bounce cases: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court has held that a criminal complaint in a cheque bounce case can be filed and pursued by a person who holds a power of attorney (PoA) on behalf of the complainant. A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice P Sathasivam gave the "authoritative" pronouncement on the issue, referred to it by a division bench in view of conflicting judgements of some high courts and the apex court. "We are of the view that the power of attorney holder may be allowed to file, appear and depose for the purpose of issue of process for the offence punishable under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act (which deals with cheque bounce cases)," the bench, also comprising justices Ranjana Prakash Desai and Ranjan Gogoi, said. The bench, in its judgement, said, "...we clarify the position and answer the questions in the following manner: "Filing of complaint petition under Section 138 of Negotiable Instruments Act through PoA holder is perfectly legal...
1 comment
Read more

Christian who reconverts as Hindu SC will get quota benefits

Amid the controversy over “ghar wapsi”, the Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that a person who “reconverts” from Christianity to Hinduism shall be entitled to reservation benefits if his forefathers belonged to a Scheduled Caste and the community accepts him after “reconversion”. Citing articles by B R Ambedkar and James Massey, and reports by Mandal Commission and Chinappa Commission, the court said: “There has been detailed study to indicate the Scheduled Caste persons belonging to Hindu religion, who had embraced Christianity with some kind of hope or aspiration, have remained socially, educationally and economically backward.” The bench of Justices Dipak Misra and V Gopala Gowda held that a person shall not be deprived of reservation benefits if he decides to “reconvert” to Hinduism and adopts the caste that his forefathers originally belonged to just because he was born to Christian parents or has a Christian spouse. Expanding the scope of a previous Constitution benc...
1 comment
Read more