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(vii). The learned PLA (PUS) Ganjam at Berhampur has been pleased to pass the unique award and this Opposite Party is obliged to fervently prayed before this Court to accept the same and this Writ Petition is liable to be dismissed.

IV. COURT'S ANALYSIS AND REASONS:

7. For decision of this case, Section 126, 127 and 145 of the Electricity Act, 2003 are relevant and they are reproduced hereinbelow:-

8. In a similar case of this nature in Tata Power Delhi Distribution Limited v. Rampal,1 the High Court of Delhi spelt out the jurisdiction of the Permanent Lok Adalat vis-à-vis Sections 126 and 145 of the Electricity Act which has been put succinctly:

"30. Besides, the provisions of section 145 of the Electricity Act also stand in the way of the forum having entertained the dispute. Since the case at hand relates to misuse of electricity, it is covered under section 126 of the Electricity Act. The dispute is therefore amenable to determination by the assessing officer under section 126, by the appellate authority under section 127 and by the adjudicating officer under section 143 of the Electricity Act, by reason of which even the jurisdiction of Civil Court was barred under section 145. So the Presiding Officer could not have entertained the dispute and no injunction could have been granted.
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34. In view of the above discussion this court is of the opinion that :
2020 SCC OnLine Del 675 Location: ORISSA HIGH COURT, CUTTACK Date: 05-Jul-2024 16:36:06 ........
d. Fourthly, since the statute provides the mechanism to address the dispute at hand under the scheme of section 126 and 127 of the Electricity Act, a Lok Adalat could not have entered upon any form of adjudication of the dispute and could not have granted interim relief."

12. After going through the law laid down by the Supreme Court and various High Courts, it is quite vivid that the provisions contemplated under Sections 126 and 127 of the Electricity Act constitute a complete code in itself and there is remedy of appeal against the final assessment order. The order of the Permanent Lok Adalat is thus an outlier in the Location: ORISSA HIGH COURT, CUTTACK Date: 05-Jul-2024 16:36:06 established scheme of things of the Electricity Act. Thus, the Permanent Lok Adalat ought not to have taken cognizance of the complaint when the purported case was already pending trial in the court of the Special Judge-cum-1st A.D.J., Berhampur; out of the provisional framework of the Electricity Act.