M/S Bangalore Electricity Supply Company LTD vs. Indian Cane Power Limited

Facts

The appellants, electricity supply companies (ESCOMs) including BESCOM, MESCOM, HESCOM, and GESCOM, filed multiple writ appeals challenging orders passed by a learned Single Judge in various writ petitions. These appeals were filed under Section 4 of the Karnataka High Court Act. The core of the dispute appears to relate to Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) between the ESCOMs and sugar mill companies, which are the writ petitioners in the original proceedings. During the pendency of these appeals, the term of the PPAs between the appellants and the writ petitioners expired by efflux of time. Additionally, the Government of Karnataka issued a communication dated January 28, 2022, directing the ESCOMs to withdraw these appeals. Consequently, the appellants filed a memo seeking permission to withdraw the appeals.

Held

The Court accepted the memo for withdrawal filed by the appellants. The reasoning was based on two key developments: firstly, the term of the Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) between the ESCOMs (appellants) and the sugar mill companies (writ petitioners) had expired by efflux of time. Secondly, the Government of Karnataka had issued a directive to the ESCOMs to withdraw the appeals. In light of these circumstances, the Court found that the appeals had become infructuous. Therefore, the Court ordered the dismissal of the writ appeals as withdrawn in terms of the memo. The operative direction was the dismissal of the appeals, leaving all issues open for future consideration as requested by the appellants.

Key Issues

The primary issue before the Court was whether the writ appeals filed by the electricity supply companies (ESCOMs) should be permitted to be withdrawn. The ESCOMs, as appellants, argued that the appeals had become infructuous due to the expiry of the Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) with the writ petitioners (sugar mills). They also cited a directive from the Government of Karnataka to withdraw the appeals. The ESCOMs sought to withdraw the appeals, requesting that all issues remain open for consideration in future appropriate proceedings. The respondents, the sugar mill companies, were represented, but their specific arguments against withdrawal are not detailed in the provided text. The Court had to decide whether to accept the memo for withdrawal and dismiss the appeals.