KESC not following orders, court told

Two benches of the Sindh High Court issue notices to the Karachi Electric Supply Company.

KARACHI: Two benches of the Sindh High Court issued notices to the Karachi Electric Supply Company on Wednesday while hearing petitions filed by consumers who moved the court against the utility for not implementing the orders passed by the federal ombudsman and the Sindh electrical inspector.

The first petition filed by Aziz A Siddiqi was heard by a division bench, comprising Chief Justice Sarmad Jalal Osmany and Justice Ghulam Sarwar Korai, on Wednesday. The KESC managing director and the billing manager were put on notice for February 18. The petitioner maintained that the federal ombudsman ordered KESC to correctly assess the load and consumption and determine power theft by the petitioner. The ombudsman, while passing the order, held that KESC’s billing and technical staff was in collusion with the builder who used kunda connections during construction and were later used by purchasers and owners of bungalows. “The KESC staff visit every area but it is not understood why they have not taken any action,” the ombudsman observed, deciding that the bills controversy was with consent of the parties. But as the KESC failed to implement the decision, the petitioner moved the court which issued notices to the utility for February 18.

Another bench issued notices to KESC managing director and Korangi Zone’s billing general manager for February 15. It was hearing a petition alleging that KESC is not implementing orders of the Sindh electrical inspector.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 10^th, 2011.