KATHMANDU, Jan 8: The District Court, Sunsari, has declined to issue an interim order to restore electricity to an industry whose power supply was disconnected due to non-payment of electricity tariffs.
Justice Tek Bahadur Karki's bench rejected the plea for an interim order to reconnect electricity supply to Reliance Spinning Mill.
Reliance Spinning Mill had approached the District Court, Sunsari, seeking an order to restore electricity supply after the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) disconnected their power line.
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The district court declined to issue an interim order, citing that even the high court did not grant an interim order in this matter. Moreover, the NEA's board of directors had provided the facility to pay the fee in 60 installments.
Previously, the district court had ordered the electricity cutoff on October 1, 2021. However, on December 2, 2021, the Biratnagar High Court overturned that decision.
Recently, on December 22, 2023, the NEA cut off the electricity supply to Reliance Spinning Mill amid the ongoing dispute. The mill owes Rs 1.71 billion to the NEA, and the district court declined to issue an interim order, stating that the NEA has agreed to resume electricity supply once the first installment is paid.
According to the district court's order on Sunday, "Considering the decision of various committees on November 2, 2023, it is not possible to issue an interim order to resume electricity supply. One should adhere to the rules.”
In the midst of this dispute, industrialists refused to pay the tariff, arguing that they did not receive the Time of Day (TOD) tariff details in the bill issued by the NEA.