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VINOD S. BHARDWAJ
Punjab State Power Corporation Limited – Appellant
Versus
Sub Divisional Magistrate-Cum-Appellate Authority, Batala – Respondent
JUDGMENT
Mr. Vinod S. Bhardwaj, J. (Oral)
Challenge in the present petition is to the order dated 27.04.2015 (Annexure P-1) passed by the Sub Divisional Magistrate, Appellate Authority, Batala whereby the appeal of the respondent has been accepted and it has been held that the penalty of Rs. 1,37,356/- levied by the petitioner-PSPCL is not appropriate and the demand vide letter No. 84 dated 20.01.2015 was without any valid basis.
2. It has been submitted by the petitioner that an electricity connection bearing Account No. G-18HF750847A was running in the name of one Harvinder Singh who was consumer of the petitioner-department and sole proprietor of the filling station. The said Harvinder Singh passed away on 21.01.2015, however, no intimation was given to the petitioner-PSPCL about the date of his death. The electricity connection was checked by the Sub Divisional Officer alongwith other staff members vide LCR No. 1048/22552 dated 09.09.2013 and it was detected at the spot that both the ME Lab seals of the meter were broken alongwith both the edges/clamps of the meter. The meter was checked at heater load and it was found to be running slow by 75%. Since it was a case of theft of el
The court established that consumers must follow statutory procedures for contesting electricity theft assessments and that reconnection is contingent upon compliance with these procedures.
Electricity - Unauthorized use of electricity - Assessment of electricity charge contemplated in this section is immediately after disconnection but before lodging complaint and that too for the purp....
The assessing officer has no authority to pass any order regarding assessment of liability and penalty against a consumer if proceedings for theft under Section 135 of the Electricity Act, 2003 are i....
Section 135 of 2003 Act deals with an offence of theft of electricity and penalty that can be imposed for such theft. This squarely falls within dimensions of criminal jurisprudence and mens rea is o....
An acquittal on the charge of theft under Section 135 of the Indian Electricity act, 2003 does not automatically absolve the consumer from the civil liability under Section 126, as the two operate on....
The assessing officer must establish unauthorized use of electricity before issuing a final assessment order, which can be appealed under Section 127 of the Electricity Act, 2003.
The main legal point established in the judgment is that the lack of communication of assessment orders to the consumer deprived the consumer of the opportunity to contest the orders, rendering any d....
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