Discom to take legal step against defaulter J C Bose

Dhanbad: The Giridih district unit of Jharkhand Bijli Vitaran Nigam Limited (JBVNL) is planning to file a certificate case or initiate appropriate legal proceedings against late scientist Sir Jagdish Chandra Bose who, according to records, is a defaulter and owes the power distributor more than Rs 1 lakh.
According to an electricity consumption bill issued by JBVNL on January 12, an amount of Rs 1,01,816.12 is quoted as due against the name 'JC Bose'.But the Bengali scientist was made a defaulter not for paying bills but for consuming power that was supplied by JBVNL to Sir JC Bose Memorial District Science Centre between 1970, at least 33 years after the scientist's death, and 2003.
"When the building, where Bose breathed his last, turned into 'Sir JC Bose Memorial District Science Centre' in February 1997, all activities and the expenses, including water and power supplies, telephone and others were governed and managed by Bihar government under the Bihar Council on Science and Technology (BCST). But soon after the formation of Jharkhand in 2000, the new state government denied all liabilities and gradually all facilities were stopped by the concerned departments," said Uday Shankar Upadhyay, former demonstrator of the science centre.
When asked, senior JBVNL officials, including superintending engineer UK Singh and executive engineer PK Jha, said they were not aware of it.