Taking suo-motu cognizance the Jharkhand High Court on Tuesday formed a high- level committee headed by Chief Secretary to monitor the recovery mechanism of dues adopted by the State electricity board.
A division bench of Chief Justice Virender Singh and Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh took cognizance of the matter during the hearing of case related to the dispute over the dues of Rs47 lakh by Sanjeev Traders.
The board had earlier refused to provide connection to Sanjeev Traders as it already had dues of Rs47 lakh on its head with the electricity company, while the company claimed that the responsibility of payment did not lie on it as the ownership of lease had been changed to other party.
“The court, asking us to furnish a list of defaulters of all categories including individual, low tension and high tension industries of five districts, has formed a committee consisting of Chairman and MD of JUVNl, Energy Secretary and others, to be headed by Chief Secretary for the monitoring of the recovery mechanism adopted by the company,” said Additional Advocate General Ajit Kumar.
According to Kumar, electricity dues in the five districts of Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Chaibasa, Chas and Dhanbad amount to several thousand crores. “The court has also directed the State Government to take proper steps to ensure recovery of the dues. The court has also directed to evolve a device system for the disposal of pending cases related to recovery of electricity dues, added Kumar.
It was also observed that the recovery could not be made as harsh steps were never taken against the defaulters by the board. “The committee will also try to make suggestions for the settlement of dues through mutual understandings between the board and the defaulter,” Kumar said. The matter will again be taken up on February 24.