Telangana High Court upholds power charges of ₹4.21 crore against Sanghi Polymers

The Telangana High Court dismissed an appeal filed by Sanghi Polymers Private Limited challenging the order of a single judge over the Telangana State Southern Power Distribution Company Limited imposing ₹4.21 crore towards Grid Support Charges (GSC) and surcharge. 

A division bench of Justices Moushumi Bhattacharya and Gadi Praveen Kumar, delivering the verdict, said it ‘did not find any error to interfere with the well reasoned findings of the single judge’. The appellants were liable to pay the charges imposed and cannot claim that the demand to pay the sum was barred under section 56(2) of the Electricity Act-2003. 

The bench noted that electricity and water are vital and finite sources. Significant public investments are made for their generation, transmission and distribution. “It is therefore necessary to use such resources responsibly, efficiently and in accordance with the law, ensuring that wastage is minimised and that lawful charges determined under the statutory and regulatory framework are duly paid,” the judgement said.

A manufacturing company, Sanghi Polymers, availed power supply through an agreement it had in 1991 with the then Andhra Pradesh Electricity Board and Sanghi Polysters Limited. With the latter unable to remit amounts having slipped into financial difficulties, Sanghi Polymers had been paying power bills to the TSSPDCL for over past 12 years. 

Meanwhile, the TSSPDCL issued memos to the company to pay ₹4.21 crore towards GSC and surcharge following a verdict of the Supreme Court in 2023. Apprehending power disconnection, the company filed a writ petition in the High Court. The single judge held that the company had to pay the charges levied by the power supplying company. After hearing contentions from both sides, the division bench held that there was no error in the single judge order.