Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court on Monday dismissed GITAM University’s request to restore electricity without clearing dues. The case of GITAM power dues has gained significant attention. The court directed the university to pay at least 50% of its ₹118 crore arrears to regain power supply.
Justice Nagesh Bheemapaka heard an urgent plea from the university after TSSPDCL disconnected power on December 20. The disconnection followed multiple notices warning of supply cut due to unpaid bills related to GITAM power dues.
GITAM’s lawyer argued that 8,000 students had been affected by the outage. He asked the court to order immediate reconnection. TSSPDCL’s counsel, N. Sridhar Reddy, said the utility gave 15 days’ notice but received no payment or stay order regarding the GITAM power dues. He added that they followed the law by cutting the supply.
The university claimed the arrears belonged to VBC Ferro Alloys Ltd., not GITAM. However, the judge ruled that the university must pay half the dues if it wants power restored.
Next hearing on GITAM power dues set for Dec 24
Earlier, the court asked the Superintending Engineer to appear in person and explain the case. After hearing both sides on Monday, the judge said he would not pass any interim order without full arguments. He postponed the case to December 24.