‘Set your house in order’: HC quashes BWSSB's 25-year arrears payment demand

The High Court of Karnataka has pulled up the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) for its lackadaisical attitude and asked it to set its house in order.

The strong comments were made by Justice M Nagaprasanna while quashing a communication sent by the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) through the BWSSB to a swimming pool in Jayanagar demanding Rs 1.93 crore as arrears for 25 years.

PM Swimming Centre, which has been running the BBMP swimming pool in Jayanagar 3rd Block since 1995, had challenged the arrears payment demand. It argued that the pool was closed for renovation until February 1997 and did not use the water supplied by the BWSSB. It used to pay only sewerage charges for that period. Decades later, in October 2020, the BBMP suddenly sent it a letter through the BWSSB demanding Rs 1.93 crore as payment in arrears. The BWSSB counsel stated that the total dues would be Rs 2.02 crore after adding up interest. The court was also informed that arrears were calculated from the time when the pool was in the control of the then Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BMP).

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Justice M Nagaprasanna noted that a meagre amount that stood as arrears before the petitioner emerged as the successful bidder has grown to mountainous proportions. The judge said that BWSSB officials were to be held responsible for their lackadaisical attitude for having let the arrears grow to mountainous proportions.

“Since the laxity on the part spans to around 25 years and (a) few of the officers who have handled this section in the board would have retired, this court holds its hands to direct any disciplinary proceeding to be initiated against those officers at this point in time for recovery of the amount, but the case at hand should act as an eye-opener for the board to set its house in order and not repeat such glaring mistakes in future,” the court said.

The court ruled that it was for the BWSSB and the BBMP to resolve the dispute of arrear payment without dragging in the petitioner. The court directed the registry to send a copy of the order to the secretary of the Department of Urban Development.

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