HC directs Bescom to treat lawyers'
offices as domestic and not charge them commercial tariff
A city-based advocate defied Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (Bescom) after officials of the company rendered power supply he consumed at his home commercial because he practiced from there: He moved High Court. The court ordered Bescom to treat an advocate's profession non-commercial or domestic.
Advocate A V Gangadharappa, 64, a resident of Dr Rajkumar Road, Rajajinagar filed a writ petition accusing in it the chief engineer (Electrical) and assistant executive engineer (Electrical) of No 1, Sub-Division, Bescom, Rajajinagar on September 12, 2013.
In his petition Gangadharappa stated that he is an advocate and practices from a chamber in his house situated in 4th M Block, Rajajinagar. He declared that he was not using electricity for any other purpose than his profession. His profession could not be termed commercial since it was not a manufacturing activity, nor a trade or business.
He had asked Bescom to treat the electricity consumed in his home, including his professional chamber as domestic and not commercial. A Bescom engineer had communicated to him on June 11, 2013 only to inform him that the said electricity consumption could not be treated as domestic.
Gangadharappa's counsel Rajagopal M R said that the office of a lawyer or a firm is not a shop that comes under the Shops and Commercial Establishments Act. Hence, electricity consumed by it be considered 'domestic' usage. The court cited an earlier judgment, that of M/s Singhvi Dev and Unni Chartered Accountants, wherein it held that chartered accounts' profession does not come within the provisions of Shops and Commercial Establishments Act, 1961 and was instead a purely social service.
High Court judge Huluvadi G Ramesh directed Bescom authorities to treat power consumed by Gangadharappa as domestic and impose tariff accordingly. The judge said that professions like law and chartered accountancy are not business or trade.
A city-based advocate defied Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (Bescom) after officials of the company rendered power supply he consumed at his home commercial because he practiced from there: He moved High Court. The court ordered Bescom to treat an advocate's profession non-commercial or domestic.
Advocate A V Gangadharappa, 64, a resident of Dr Rajkumar Road, Rajajinagar filed a writ petition accusing in it the chief engineer (Electrical) and assistant executive engineer (Electrical) of No 1, Sub-Division, Bescom, Rajajinagar on September 12, 2013.
In his petition Gangadharappa stated that he is an advocate and practices from a chamber in his house situated in 4th M Block, Rajajinagar. He declared that he was not using electricity for any other purpose than his profession. His profession could not be termed commercial since it was not a manufacturing activity, nor a trade or business.
He had asked Bescom to treat the electricity consumed in his home, including his professional chamber as domestic and not commercial. A Bescom engineer had communicated to him on June 11, 2013 only to inform him that the said electricity consumption could not be treated as domestic.
Gangadharappa's counsel Rajagopal M R said that the office of a lawyer or a firm is not a shop that comes under the Shops and Commercial Establishments Act. Hence, electricity consumed by it be considered 'domestic' usage. The court cited an earlier judgment, that of M/s Singhvi Dev and Unni Chartered Accountants, wherein it held that chartered accounts' profession does not come within the provisions of Shops and Commercial Establishments Act, 1961 and was instead a purely social service.
High Court judge Huluvadi G Ramesh directed Bescom authorities to treat power consumed by Gangadharappa as domestic and impose tariff accordingly. The judge said that professions like law and chartered accountancy are not business or trade.
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