118 cr power dues: Telangana HC denies GITAM varsity relief

Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court on Monday, December 22, refused to grant interim relief to GITAM University, which sought directions for the immediate restoration of its electricity connection disconnected over unpaid dues amounting to Rs 118 crore.

Justice Nagesh Bheemapaka clarified that power supply would be restored only if the university pays 50 percent of the outstanding arrears.​

Power disconnection follows court scrutiny

TGSPDCL (Telangana Southern Power Distribution Company Limited) disconnected the university’s power supply on December 19, following the High Court’s earlier displeasure over the electricity department’s failure to take action against the institution despite massive pending dues.

The disconnection came after the court had summoned the Superintending Engineer to appear personally and explain why the power supply continued uninterrupted despite arrears accumulated since 2008-09.​

Gitam University subsequently filed an urgent interim petition seeking restoration of the electricity connection, arguing that 8,000 students were facing severe difficulties due to the power cut affecting academic and administrative activities on campus.​

Arguments in court

During Monday’s hearing, the university’s counsel contended that the electricity dues belonged to VBC Ferro Alloys Ltd, not the university, and that the company should be responsible for payment.

The counsel argued that although VBC Ferro Alloys and Gitam University were under the same ownership, the dues were not attributable to the educational institution.​

TGSPDCL’s counsel N Sreedhar Reddy countered that the entities were closely connected and stated that the electricity connection was disconnected only after issuing a statutory 15-day notice. He informed the court that the issue of unpaid dues had been pending since 2020.​

Court’s decision

Justice Bheemapaka took exception to the university’s position and pointed out that the chairman of VBC Ferro Alloys was the petitioner’s (university secretary’s) grandfather.

The judge indicated that the court would consider issuing directions for restoration of the electricity supply only upon payment of 50 per cent of the outstanding amount.

Stating that orders cannot be issued without hearing both parties, the court adjourned the hearing to December 24.