NOC From Owner Not Required To Give New Electricity Connection To Tenant: Bombay High Court

The Nagpur bench of Bombay High Court recently reiterated that a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the owner of the premises is not required for a tenant to get a new electricity connection.

A division bench of Justice AS Chandurkar and Justice Abhay J Mantri set aside a communication from Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd. requiring NOC from owner to provide new connection to the petitioner.

“Having heard the learned Counsel for the parties and having perused the decision in Dilip (Dead) Through Lrs. (Supreme Court), respondent nos. 2 and 3 (MSEDCL) were not justified in seeking the NOC from the petitioners. In the compromise decree passed in Special Civil Suit No. 388/2005, the petitioners are entitled to rights in the property concerned. The mother of defendant no.4 was also a defendant in the said suit. We therefore find that insistence for NOC from the petitioners is not justified. It will only be necessary for respondent nos. 2 and 3 to ensure that the provisions of the Regulations of 2021 in the matter of supply of fresh connection are duly satisfied”, the court held.

In Dilip (Dead) through Legal Heirs v. Satish and Ors., the Apex Court emphasized the indispensability of electricity as a basic amenity, which cannot be withheld from a tenant based on the landlord's refusal to issue an NOC. The Apex court clarified that the electricity supply authority is only required to examine is whether the applicant for electricity connection is in occupation of the premises in question.

The petitioners, M/s. Singh Automobiles, in the present writ petition challenged a communication dated January 23, 2023 issued by the MSEDCL. This communication informed the petitioners that unless they obtained an NOC from the owner, a new electricity connection would not be provided.

The petitioners, dissatisfied with the communication, relied on a compromise decree issued in Special Civil Suit with the mother of the current owner of the property. This decree bestowed upon them specific rights in agricultural land and the dealership of petrol pumps linked to the land.

Advocate Amit Khare for the petitioners cited a judgment by the Supreme Court in Dilip (Dead) Through Lrs. v. Satish and Others. He argued that given the compromise decree, the insistence on procuring an NOC was legally unwarranted, as the petitioner already held rights in the property.

Advocate SV Purohit for MSEDCL submitted that NOC was sought based on legal opinion received by MSEDCL. He referred to the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (Electricity Supply Code and Standards of Performance of Distribution Licensees including Power Quality) Regulations, 2021. Based on Clause 5.6 of the Regulations and legal advice received on April 28, 2022, an NOC was a required for the new electricity connection, he said.

The court declared that MSEDCL was unjustified in the insistence on obtaining an NOC from the owner in view of Dilip v. Satish and Ors. The court underscored the significance of the compromise decree in a Special Civil Suit, which had already conferred specific rights upon the petitioners in the property. As such, the court found the demand for an NOC to be without merit.

The court directed MSEDCL to consider the petitioners’ application for supply of new electricity connection according to the Regulations of 2021 without insisting for any NOC.

Case no. – Writ Petition No. 2576 of 2023

Case Title – M/s Singh Automobiles v. Principal Secretary, Ministry of Energy & Ors.