The issue of power theft in the city is finally being addressed in the rightful way. In two separate cases, four people from South Delhi’s Munirka and one prominent West Delhi factory owner have been sentenced to two years of Rigorous Imprisonment (RI) on Friday, by the Special Courts of Electricity in Saket and Dwarka. Besides this, cumulative fines of Rs 3.37 lakh and Rs 1.32 crore respectively have been imposed on the five accused.
In 2006, BSES Rajdhani Power limited (BRPl) caught the factory owner for stealing 103 KW of electricity for running a rubber and anodizing plant. Subsequently, a power theft bill of Rs 51 lakh was raised on the accused according to the laid down regulations. When the accused did not pay the fine within the stipulated timeframe, a complaint was lodged. Eventually, he was summoned by a Special Court and since he did not appear before the Court, he was declared as a proclaimed offender.
Additional Sessions Judge, Suresh Kumar Gupta, imposed the fine “three times of the financial gain on the account of theft of electricity.”