Court No. - 46
Case :- CRIMINAL MISC. WRIT PETITION No. - 25528 of 2019 Petitioner :- Jagdeesh Prasad Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 3 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Santosh Kumar Singh,B.N.Singh,Baleshwar Chaturvedi Counsel for Respondent :- G.A.
Hon'ble Naheed Ara Moonis,J. Hon'ble Narendra Kumar Johari,J.
Heard learned counsel for the petitioner, Sri Kamal Kesharwani, holding brief of Sri Baleshwar Chaturvedi, learned counsel appearing on behalf of Dakshinanchal Vidyut Vitran Nigam Limited, Sakti Bhawan, Lucknow, respondent No.4 and learned A.G.A for the State.
We have taken through the allegations contained in the first information report and the material on record.
By means of the present writ petition, the petitioner has invoked extraordinary jurisdiction of this Court with a prayer to quash the FIR dated 8.8.2019 registered as Case Crime No. 927 of 2019, under Section 135 Indian Electricity Act (Amendment) 2003 IPC, Police Station- Kotwali Orai, District- Jalaun.
It is submitted by the learned counsel for the petitioner that the petitioner is maliciously being harassed on the basis of false allegation made in the first information report lodged by respondent No.3. The petitioner has never indulged in the theft of the electricity. The petitioner is having valid electricity connection and is regularly paying the electricity bill. However, the petitioner is ready to clear all the electricity dues, if any.
Per contra learned counsel appearing for the power corporation contended that the petitioner is involved in committing theft of electricity by using illegal means, in case the petitioner is ready to clear all the electricity dues he may move an application before the competent authority narrating the entire facts and the competent authority shall decide the same.
Having considered the rival submissions advanced by the learned counsel for the parties and the nature of the allegations, it cannot be said that prima facie no cognizable offence is made out against the petitioner, hence the prayer for quashing the first information report is refused.
It is provided that the petitioner shall move an application before the respondent No.4 Dakshinanchal Vidyut Vitran Nigam Limited, Sakti Bhawan, Lucknow, who shall look into the matter and decide the same invoking Section 152 of the Electricity Act, 2003, which contemplates that notwithstanding anything contained under the Code of Criminal Procedure 1973, the appropriate government or any officer authorized by it in this behalf shall accept from any consumer or from any person who commit or who is reasonably suspected of having committed an offence of theft of electricity punishable under the Act, the sum of money by way of compounding of the offence.
It is, therefore, directed that in case the petitioner moves an application before the authority concerned within three weeks from today for compounding the offence, the authority concerned shall decide the application in accordance with law. The petitioner shall deposit the compounded amount, if any, within three weeks thereafter.
The petitioner shall not be arrested in the aforesaid case for a period of two months from today. In default of moving the application as mentioned above or makes any default in depositing the compounded amount, it shall be open to the Investigating Officer to submit a report under Section 173 (2) Cr.P.C. accordingly.
With the above direction, this petition is finally disposed of.
Order Date :- 17.12.2019 G.S