IMPORTANT POINTBefore disconnection no prior notice required in case of theft of electricity.

S. Majumder, Member- Both the appeals are similar in nature and so a similar judgment will serve the purpose of both the appeals. The case of the Appellant in brief is stated herein. The Appellant is a bona fide consumer of electricity under the CESC Ltd. He has two electrical meters and has been paying electricity bills regularly as raised" by the Respondent No 1. There was no allegation of dishonest effort on his part and there was never any enquiry from the side of the CESC Ltd. But one day in his absence, some persons claiming themselves to be employees of the CESC, disconnected his service line. Afterwards he visited the office of the Respondent no. 1 and tried to ascertain the reason of such disconnection, but did not get any reply from that office. On 08.09.2000 he received a letter from the CESC Ltd. dated 01.09.2000, stating some false and concocted version. Thereafter, the Respondents sent three bills dated 19.09.2000 claiming certain amounts which were absolutely unjustified, false, arbitrary and illegal. Ld. Counsel for the Appellant states that he never committed any act which was against the law of electricity and never committed any theft of energy. But the Respondents with a view to extract money from him illegally and fraudulently raised the bills which have no basis at all he is not liable to pay the same. Due to disconnection of electricity his business has been totally closed and he has been suffering pecuniary loss everyday. For this reason he filed a case before the Forum claiming for a sum of Rs. 80,000/- by way of compensation and prayed for a declaration that the bills were raised illegally and arbitrarily and he is not bound to pay the same.

The Forum in its judgment dated 26.08.2002, held that the Appellant may approach competent Civil Court in a civil suit for a redressal of his grievances and dismissed the complaint.

Being aggrieved by and dissatisfied with the said judgment the Appellant has preferred the appeal before this Commission. Ld. Counsel for the Appellant submits that Forum below had committed serious mistake in passing the judgment in deviation with the earlier judgment dated 12.02.2002. On the whole the impugned judgment is against the spirit and object of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986. In his opinion the judgment of the Forum below is erroneous, illegal and liable to be dismissed.

The Respondent did not file any written objection, but their Ld. Counsel was present during final hearing. They submit that on 01.09.2000 it was detected by them that the Appellant was abstracting electricity unauthorisedly by tampering with the original meter - body seal and replacing the said seal by spurious one. So, immediately they disconnected the supply of the Appellant and addressed a letter to him on 01.09.2000, stating therein that as he made breach of agreement and illegally contravened the provisions of law, the CESC Ltd. was compelled to disconnect . the supply without prior notice. The Respondents also mentioned in their letter to submit a representation within a period of 7 days from the date of receipt of that letter, failing which the Respondents would be entitled to assess the value of the unmetered consumption ex parte. The Respondents also made a report to the Bantra Police Station about the illegal tampering. They further submit that in spite of receipt of the letter dated 01.09.2000, the Appellant did not care to make any representation and therefore they proceeded to assess the unmetered consumption charge at penal rate. They sent him three separate bills. The Respondents also gave him an opportunity that if he was dissatisfied with the ex parte assessment, he can make an appeal to the Deputy Chief Engineer, L.C.C. and after depositing 50% of the claimed amount on account of unmetered consumption charge and other necessary charges, he can get the supply of electricity. But he did not turn up. In their opinion tampering of the seal is a gross violation of the mandatory provisions