Date:22/08/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/08/22/stories/2008082259550400.htm

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Separate power connection for estranged wife

K.T. Sangameswaran

“It is an unfortunate case in which the wife and the husband, at the age of 83 and 93 respectively, are fighting”

CHENNAI: “It is an unfortunate case in which the petitioner/wife and the third respondent/husband, at the age of 83 and 93 respectively, are fighting for an electricity connection, instead of leading a happy life, as a role model for others.”

This was the observation of Justice K. Venkataraman while allowing a petition filed by a woman of Villivakkam, who challenged the electricity board’s order refusing separate connection to the portion she occupied.

K. Rajalakshmi was staying on the first floor of the premises, and her husband, N. Kannan, on the ground floor. In view of the strained relations between them, Mr. Kannan disconnected the power connection and dismantled the entire system. Hence, she requested the Junior Engineer, Tamil Nadu Electricity Board, Baba Nagar, Villivakkam, to grant a separate service connection to her portion of the house.

However, the Board rejected her request in April this year, arguing that her husband, the owner of the premises, objected to a separate connection.

In his counter affidavit, her husband submitted that the two were living happily for more than 50 years, but, at the instigation of their sons, his wife initiated proceedings against him. She filed a maintenance case in the family court, Chennai, and got an order in her favour.

Mr. Justice Venkataraman said it was not the case of the woman’s husband that she was living on the premises unauthorised.

The Electricity Act provided for grant of a separate service connection to the person who was in legal occupation, and even to the tenant in possession of the premises.

Counsel for Mr. Kannan submitted that Mr. Kannan objected to a separate connection since she needed it not only for herself but also for her sons and grandsons. The judge said that an electricity connection could not be denied merely on this ground.

Setting aside the Junior Engineer’s order and allowing the petition, Mr. Justice Venkataraman directed the Junior Engineer to grant a separate service connection to the petitioner.