The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Friday dismissed the application by Port Grand Limited which sought to restrain K-Electric (KB) from performing approved maintenance work on a 220KV underground transmission line. The plaintiff - Port Grand Limited- sought an injunction to stay the maintenance work on in its premises praying that that it would damage their personal property, disrupt business and cause inconvenience to their customers, thereby inflicting on their business irreparable damage.
The court ruled that there appeared to be no question of irreparable loss to plaintiff as the alleged work of lying transmission line would be carried out on the existing line only. The counsel for defendant - K Electric- argued that the 220 KV double-circuit underground transmission line is an important part of K Electric's transmission network and as per the hearing proceedings, is integral for stable and continuous power supply to Karachi and its adjacent locations.
This line was commissioned in 2003 and the utility company has been performing routine maintenance activities on the line for the last 15 years, in coordination Karachi Port Trust (KPI), the owner of the land under which the transmission is laid.
In 2006, KPT leased the land to Grand Leisure Corporation Pvt. Ltd. (Port Grand) and the latter agreed to establish a commercial food and recreational services outlet on it. However within the lease, the KPT provided for the maintenance and safeguard of all utility and service infrastructure which was present underground or overhead, including any that KPT may find necessary to lay subsequent to the agreement through Clause 15 which the lessee agreed to.
K-Electric's counsel, Advocate Amel Kansi, argued that K-Electric had already obtained all necessary No Objection Certificates (NOCs) from KPT in December 2016 in line with Clause 15, which clearly states that only KPT approval is required to lay, maintain or relocate electricity lines through its premises.
The delay caused by Port Grand in this work was in fact affecting people across Karachi. "It is the authority of defendant No 2 - KPT- to grant approval to concerned agency for laying electric lines on over or through premises and for its relocation as per the requirement of concerned agency," the court order said.
Hearing the arguments, Justice Zafar Ahmed Rajput ruled that K-Electric is "under obligation to ensure constant supply of electricity to its consumers and to achieve such objective is required to carry out the overhauling work."
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