JUDGMENT :

S.V. PINTO, J.

1. This appeal has been filed by the appellant-State under Section 378(1)(3) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Code’) against the impugned judgment and the order passed by the learned Special Judge, Khambhaliya (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Trial Court’) in Special (G.E.B.) Case No. 46 of 2010 on 15.06.2012, whereby, the learned Trial Court has acquitted the respondent from the offence punishable under Sections 135 of the ELECTRICITY ACT , 2003 (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Act’).

1.1 The respondent is hereinafter referred to as ‘the accused’ as he stood in the original case, for the sake of convenience, clarity and brevity.

2. The relevant facts leading to filing of the present appeal are as under:

2.1. On 24.01.2006, the officers of the Paschim Gujarat Vij Company Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “PGVCL”) checked the house of the accused and found that she was not a consumer of electricity, but had directly connected a wire in the low tension electric line of PGVCL and was using electricity in her house. After the due procedure, it was found that she had utilized 265 watts of electricity and had committed theft o