17.09.2026 Item No.20 & 21 (DL) Court No.7 AJ. IN THE HIGH COURT AT CALCUTTA CONSTITUTIONAL WRIT JURISDICTION W.P.A. 20111 of 2026 Sk. Immam Ali -Vs- The West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company Limited & Ors. with W.P.A. 20552 of 2026 Abul Kasem Sk. -Vs- The State of West Bengal & Ors. Mr. Madan Mohan Roy, Mr. Rajen Dutta, Mr. Kaustav Manna, Ms. Sutapa Upadhyay. …for the petitioner in WPA 20111 of 2026/ for the respondent no.6 in WPA 20552 of 2026. Ms. Susmita Chatterjee. …for the WBSEDCL in WPA 20111 of 2026. Mr. Kanak Kiran Bandyopadhyay. …for the WBSEDCL in WPA 20552 of 2026. Mr. Gazi Faruque Hossain. …for the respondent no.8 in WPA 20552 of 2026 /for the petitioner in WPA 20111 of 2026. Mr. Sourav Sengupta, Ms. Sruti Datta. …for the State in both writ petitions. 1. These two writ petitions relate to a request for supply of electricity to the submersible pump of the same person (i.e. Abul Kasem Sk) who is the writ petitioner in WPA 20552 of 2026 and the private respondent in WPA 20111 of 2026. 2. WPA 20111 of 2026 has been filed by one Sk. Immam Ali seeking an order of restraint on the respondent WBSEDCL 2 Authorities in effecting electricity supply to the submersible pump of the Abul Kasem Sk. 3. WPA 20552 of 2026 has been filed by Abul Kasem Sk. seeking a direction on the WBWSEDCL Authorities to effect electricity supply to the submersible pup of the said petitioner. 4. The WBSEDCL Authorities have filed a report in the form of an affidavit which reveals that there is no impediment in effecting electricity supply to the submersible pump in favour of Abul Kasem Sk. i.e. the petitioner in WPA 20552 of 2026. 5. The objection raised against such request for electricity supply is based on the provisions of Section 7 of the West Bengal Ground Water Resources (Management, Control and Regulation) Act, 2005. It is contended that the same prohibits extraction of ground water for any purpose except in cases where permission from the State Level Authority or the District Level Authority or the Corporation Level Authority, as the case may be is taken. 6. Such objection has been, argued to be without foundation in the facts of the present case inasmuch as, the submersible pump of Abul Kasem Sk. i.e. the petitioner in WPA 20552 of 2026 lies in the safe zone. 3 7. Report filed by the WBSEDCL Authorities earlier (as recorded in the order dated September 10, 2026) and by the State Authorities (which has been handed up to Court today) reveal that a Notification dated November 03, 2011 had been issued by the Government of West Bengal, Water Resources Investigation and Development Department whereby all wells outside the critical and semi-critical block/zones which met the technical criteria were exempted from the purview of the aforesaid 2005 Act. 8. Both the WBSEDCL Authorities as well as State Authorities are ad idem that the submersible pump in question (i.e. of Abul Kasem Sk.) is to be operated in an area which does not fall within either critical or semi- critical block. To be precise, report filed in Court today on behalf of State Authorities states as follows :- “1. That as per report dated 27.08.2026 of the Station Manager, Dadpur CCC, WBSEDCL, the distance between the existing STW pump set of Sk. Imam Ali and the proposed STW pump set of Abul Kasem Sk was found to be approximately 134 meters. Notification No. 189/WRIDD/SECY dated 03.11. 2011 provides for exemptions in respect of electrified irrigation pump sets in areas other than critical and somi critical blocks, subject to the prescribed criteria. One of the said criteria relates to STW pump sets below 5HP. The proposed agricultural STW connection of Abdul Kasem Sk is for a pump set below 5HP. A copy of such report dated 27.08.2026 is annexed herewith for kind perusal and marked as annexure-A. 2. That as per report dated 14.09.2026 of the Geologist, Geological Sub-Div. II/C, 4 SWID, Chinsurah, Hooghly, the Polba- Dadpur Block Hooghly District is categorized as 'safe' as per GW Assessment Report 2008-09, 2016-17,2021-22, 2022-23, 2023- 24 and 2024-25. A copy of such report is annexed herewith and marked as annexure- A/1. 3. That no restriction prescribing a minimum distance between two STW pump set is stipulated in the Notification No. 189/WRIDD/SECY dated 03.11.2011. A copy of such notification is annexed herewith and marked as annexure-A/2.” 9. The report filed by the WBSEDCL Authorities also speaks in the same tune. 10. In such view of the matter, the objection raised by the petitioner in WPA 20111 of 2026 is found to be without foundation. Accordingly, there shall be an order on the WBSEDCL Authorities to effect electricity supply to the submersible pump of Abul Kasem Sk. i.e. the petitioner in WPA 20552 of 2026 within two weeks from the date of compliance with all formalities and payment of necessary charges by the said Abul Kasem Sk., in accordance with law. 11. With the aforesaid observations, WPA 20552 of 2026 stands allowed and WPA 20111 of 2026 stands dismissed. There shall be no order as to costs. 12. Urgent photostat certified copy of this order, if applied for, be supplied to the parties subject to compliance with all requisite formalities. (Om Narayan Rai, J.)