The Delhi High Court has pulled up the city government for its failure to pay the Rs.22 lakh electricity bill of one of its schools, which led to disconnection of power supply to the institution that has 9,000 students on rolls.
A division bench of Acting Chief Justice A.K. Sikri and Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw Wednesday took note of the matter and directed a private power distribution company that "in future the electricity of any school should not be disconnected without a week's prior notice".
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The bench also held that if the pending bills of schools were not paid within a week, the official(s) responsible for the lapse will be held in contempt of court.
The court's direction came on a petition filed by advocate Ashok Aggarwal that there was no electricity in both shifts of the Delhi government-run Zeenat Mahal Senior Secondary School in east Delhi since Aug 22.
After the court's intervention, the department of education gave an undertaking to the power company that a bill would be paid within one month and the school's electricity supply was restored Aug 28.
The power company disconnected the electricity supply for non-payment of the bill amounting to around Rs.22 lakh.
Aggarwal submitted that the 9,000 girls and boys,studying in two shifts at the sschool, were facing difficulties.
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