Chandigarh power crisis: High Court takes suo motu cognisance

Chandigarh, February 22

Taking suo motu cognisance of the electricity crisis in Chandigarh, the Punjab and Haryana High Court today observed disruption in supply could cause irrevocable damage before directing the UT Chief Engineer to appear tomorrow “to apprise the court of the measures being taken to alleviate the crisis”.

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The Bench of Justice Ajay Tewari and Justice Pankaj Jain asserted that it had been brought to the notice of the court that power supply to large parts of Chandigarh had been disrupted. In the circumstances, it was constrained to take up the matter on the judicial side and had consequently requested UT senior standing counsel Anil Mehta to apprise the court of the arrangements the Administration was making to prevent undue hardship to residents.

Mehta, in turn, apprised the court that power failure was “on account of acts of sabotage by the striking employees”. He further informed the Bench that a request was made by the UT Administration to get officials from Punjab and Haryana to tide over the crisis. The latest information he received was that Punjab had expressed its inability to send any person on deputation.

The Bench observed that Mehta was not yet aware of the response of Haryana.

The court could not be oblivious to the fact that disruption in electricity supply was not only affecting ordinary residents, but may affect institutions such as hospitals where patients may be on ventilators and other life support systems.

“Apart from that, there are online examinations and classes which students are taking. In many cases, virtual hearing has been disrupted in this court also because lawyers are not able to appear due to the fact that there is no electricity in their offices. In such situations, the disruption in electricity supply can cause irrevocable damage.

“Resultantly, we deem it appropriate to request the Chief Engineer, UT, to appear before this court tomorrow — February 23 — to apprise it of the measures being taken to alleviate the crisis. The matter may be placed before the Chief Justice today so that His Lordship can mark it to the appropriate Bench for tomorrow,” the Bench concluded.

What the Bench said

The Bench of Justice Ajay Tewari and Justice Pankaj Jain asserted that power supply to large parts of Chandigarh had been disrupted. In the circumstances, it was constrained to take up the matter on the judicial side and had consequently requested UT senior standing counsel Anil Mehta to apprise the court of the arrangements being made by the UT.