Allahabad High Court Rules Access To Electricity Is A Fundamental Right
· India · Times of India, Indian Express
The Allahabad High Court has ruled that access to electricity forms an integral part of the right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution. The bench comprising Justice Vivek Saran and Justice Prakash Padia directed the North Eastern Railway to restore an electricity connection to a temple located on railway premises in Ballia. The petitioner, Fanindra Das, had approached the court after railway authorities rejected his request to transfer an existing connection that had operated since 1978. The court emphasized that modern life requires electricity and civic amenities to live with human dignity, citing previous Supreme Court precedents on shelter rights. The railway authorities had previously denied the connection based on rules prohibiting utility supplies on private or unauthorized land.
Why it matters
This ruling reinforces that basic civic amenities such as electricity are legally protected under constitutional right-to-life guarantees, potentially impacting utility disputes across public and private lands.
Read the original report — Times of India
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