IMPORTANT POINT
Prosecution failed to establish the appellant's connection to the premises where alleged electricity theft occurred, leading to the reversal of conviction.

JUDGMENT :

The present appeal has been preferred against the judgment of conviction and order of sentence dated 15.03.2014 passed by the Court of Special Judge, Electricity, Magadh Area, Gaya, in Trial No. 208/13/189/14 arising out of G.R. No. (E) 49 of 2011. The appellant has been convicted under Section 135 (1) of the Electricity Act, 2007, and sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for three years along with a fine of Rs. 5,000/- (Rupees Five Thousand). In default of payment of fine, he has been directed to undergo simple imprisonment for four months. The trial court further directed the appellant to pay a sum of Rs. 43,77,888/- × 3 = Rs. 1,31,33,664/- (Rupees One Crore Thirty- One Lakh Thirty-Three Thousand Six Hundred Sixty-Four) as fine on the ground of loss caused to the Electricity Department owing to the commission of electricity theft by him.

Prosecution Story :-

2. The prosecution story, in brief, as appears from the FIR, is as follows:-

On 24.08.2011, at about 3:30 P.M., the informant, along with other members of the raiding party constituted by the Electricity Board vide Order No. XII, Misc. No. 109/87-682, conducted a raid at village Janpur, which falls under Bodh Gaya Police Station in Gaya District. At that time, the Deputy Executive Magistrate, Sureshwar Kumar Mehta (PW-7), A.S.I. Om Prakash Singh, and other armed forces deputed for assisting in the raid were also present along with the raiding team. It has been further alleged in the FIR that the raiding party found a plastic manufacturing unit being run by the occupant at the alleged premises, where theft of electricity was being committed. While committing the offence, electricity was being consumed from an LT line through illegal means, and in this regard, several articles were seized. As per the FIR, the appellant was alleged to have been running the said plastic manufacturing unit by illegally using electricity at village Janpur, Bodh Gaya, in Gaya District. According to the Electricity Department, the appellant’s electricity connection had already been disconnected on account of non-payment of dues, and due to this reason, he started using electricity by fixing a toka on the LT line in an illegal manner. His electricity connection pertained to his godown situated at Godam Road, Bodh Gaya Market. In the FIR, the loss caused to the Electricity Department on account of the alleged act of the appellant was assessed to be Rs. 43,77,888/-. The FIR further reveals that at the time of raid, one person, namely Anil Pandey, was found present at the alleged premises. According to the informant, he was the caretaker of the appellant and was apprehended at the spot. The raiding party seized all relevant articles, the details of which are mentioned in the seizure list (Exhibit-2) attached to the FIR. On the basis of a written application filed by Gauri Shankar Prasad, an Executive Engineer of the Electricity Department, a formal FIR bearing Bodh Gaya P.S. Case No. 158 of 2011 was registered under Section 135 of the Electricity Act, 2003 against the apprehended co-accused Anil Pandey and the appellant, Md. Maksood Alam.

2.1. In the seizure list, several articles seized from the spot, such as a starter, four motors of different HP capacities, and PVC wires, were shown as recovered. As per the seizure