Court No. - 46
Case :- CRIMINAL MISC. WRIT PETITION No. - 26145 of 2019 Petitioner :- Narendra Kumar Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 3 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Shyam Babu Vaish Counsel for Respondent :- G.A.
Hon'ble Naheed Ara Moonis,J. Hon'ble Dinesh Pathak,J.
Heard learned counsel for the petitioner, Sri Gauri Shanker Yadav, learned counsel appearing on behalf of respondent no. 4 and the learned AGA for the respondents-State and perused the record.
The instant writ petition has been filed by the petitioners invoking the extra ordinary jurisdiction of this Court under Article 226 of the Constitution of India with a prayer to quash the first information report dated 7.8.2019 bearing Case Crime No. 0696 of 2019, under Section 135 of the Indian Electricity Act (Amended) 2003, Police Station Highway, district Mathura.
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. 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 the learned counsel appearing for the Power Corporation contended that 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 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 Executive Engineer, U.P. Power Corporation, Mathura 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 a week 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 make the arrest of the petitioner and shall submit a report under Section 173 (2) Cr.P.C. accordingly.
With the above direction this petition is finally disposed of.
Order Date :- 20.12.2019 Shahnawaz