The Chhattisgarh High Court has taken suo motu cognizance of a public interest litigation (PIL) regarding the maintenance and care of electric poles in Bilaspur.
The PIL was registered based on a news item published in a daily on January 4, 2025. The news report highlighted the pathetic condition of electric poles in the city, which were covered with various sorts of wires, including telephone and internet cables, installed in a messy condition.
The report further stated that the wires posed a hazardous situation and that an employee of the Chhattisgarh State Power Distribution Company Ltd. (CSPDCL) was threatened and assaulted when he tried to remove the unwanted cables.
The court heard the matter on January 6, 2025, and directed the respondents, including the CSPDCL and the state government, to file their personal affidavits with respect to the issue involved in the petition.
The Division Bench of Chief Justice Ramesh Sinha and Justice Ravindra Kumar Agrawal noted that another PIL had been filed on the same issue and was fixed for hearing on January 16, 2025.