The Electricity Act, 2003 - Sections 135 and 152 - The Criminal
Procedure Code, 1973 - Sections 41 and 482 - Theft of Electricity - Compounding
of offences - Settlement arrived at between the parties - Quashing of the FIR -
the issue in question needs to be decided in the light of Section 152 of the Act,
which deals with compounding of offences under the Act - High Court did not
examine the issue in the light of Section 152 of the Act - remanded the case to
the High Court to examine the issue afresh keeping in view the provisions of
Section 152 of the Act.
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION
[ABHAY MANOHAR SAPRE] AND [DINESH MAHESHWARI] JJ;
March 12, 2019
CRIMINAL APPEAL Nos.469470 OF 2019
(Arising out of S.L.P.(Crl.) Nos.227228 of 2019)
Mukesh Chand ….Appellant(s)
VERSUS
The State(NCT) of Delhi & Anr. ….Respondent(s)
J U D G M E N T
Abhay Manohar Sapre, J.
1. Leave granted.
2. These appeals are directed
against the final judgment and order dated 10.12.2018 passed by the High Court
of Delhi at New Delhi in Crl.M.A.No.49292/2018 in Crl.M.C. No.2757/2018 whereby
the High Court dismissed the application filed by the appellant herein.
3. A few
facts need mention hereinbelow for the disposal of these appeals, which involve
a short point.
4. The appellant was a
consumer of electricity. He, therefore, obtained one electricity connection from
respondent No. 2 BSES Rajdhani Power Limited(hereinafter referred to as “BSES”)
for his business premises.
5. Respondent No. 2BSES sent
a bill to the appellant for consumption of electricity to the tune of Rs.
3,54,598.21 on 22.09.2014. According to BSES, the appellant had committed theft
of electricity and on it being detected, the bill in question was sent to the
appellant.
6. Since the appellant
failed to pay the bill amount, the BSES filed FIR against him under Section 135
of the Electricity Act,2003 (hereinafter referred to as “the Act”) and sought
the appellant’s prosecution for commission of theft of electricity under the
Act. It was also followed by notice under Section 41 of the Criminal Procedure
Code, 1973(hereinafter referred to as “the Crl.P.C.”).
7. The appellant and BSES,
however, settled the matter in the Special Lok Adalat held on 11.02.2018 for a
total sum of Rs.1,60,000/. An order was accordingly passed by the Lok Adalat on
11.02.2018. According to the appellant, he has deposited the agreed amount in two
instalments.
8. The appellant, therefore,
filed a petition under Section 482 of the Crl.P.C. in the High Court of Delhi
seeking therein for quashing of the FIR filedby the BSES against him in
relation to the aforementioned dispute.
9. By impugned order, the
High Court dismissed the petition, which has given rise to filing of these appeals
by way of special leave in this Court by the appellant(consumer).
10. Heard Mr. V.K. Sharma,
learned counsel for the appellant and Mr. K.M. Nataraj, learned ASG for respondent
No.1 and Mr. Sonal Jain, learned counsel for respondent No.2BSES.
11. Learned counsel for the
appellant (consumer) referring to condition(iii) of the order dated 11.02.2018
of the Lok Adalat (Annexure P5) contended that in the light of the settlement
arrived at between the parties wherein the BSES has agreed to withdraw all the
cases filed by them against the appellant, the FIR and the criminal case filed
byBSES against him has to be disposed of in terms of the settlement arrived at
in the Lok Adalat.
12. In reply, learned counsel
appearing for respondent No.2BSES contended that the issue in question has to
be decided keeping in view the requirements of Section 152 of the Act.
13. Having heard the learned
counsel for the parties and on perusal of the record of the case, we are
inclined to allow the appeals and while setting aside the impugned order remand
the case to the High Court for deciding the petition afresh keeping in view the
provisions of the Section 152 of the Act.
14. As rightly pointed out by
Mr. K.M. Nataraj, learned ASG appearing for respondent No.1, the issue in
question needs to be decided in the light of Section 152 of the Act, which
deals with compounding of offences under the Act.
15. Since we find that the
High Court did not examine the issue in the light of Section 152 of the Act, we
consider it proper to remand the case to the High Court to examine the issue
afresh keeping in view the provisions of Section 152 of the Act and then pass
appropriate orders as the case may require on the facts involved therein in
accordance with law.
16. In view of the foregoing
discussion, the appeals are allowed, the impugned order is set aside and the case
is remanded to the High Court for deciding the matter afresh as indicated above.
17. We make it clear that
having formed an opinion to remand the case, we have not applied our mind to
the merits of the case. The High Court will, therefore, decide the matter
strictly in accordance with law uninfluenced by any observations made by us in
this order.