Court orders discom: Return Rs 64,000 to man wrongly fined for power ‘Theft’

In July 2019, Rajender, a resident of Village Khor, lodged a complaint with the discom, claiming that the meter displayed light but not the reading. He asserted that the meter was replaced without his awareness, and he did not sign any order authorizing the meter change. As a result, a city court has directed DHBVN to reimburse the customer the sum of Rs 64,000, which was collected in 2019 as a penalty for alleged power theft.
On November 4, 2020, Rajender was imposed a fine of Rs 64,000 with a warning of disconnecting power supply if the penalty was not paid. He did pay the amount at that time and made a complaint.
Kshitiz Mehta, counsel for the complainant, said that he himself filed the complaint to discom about the meter. “Why would he complain about the meter if he was involved in theft,” Mehta argued, adding that as per the norms, the meter should be sent to the lab within two days and in this case it was sent to the lab after 97 days from the removal.
“The meter was not even sealed and it was merely packed in a cardboard box and there is every possibility that the meter could have been tampered with,” Mehta said.
However, Sudhir Mudgil, counsel for DHBVN, argued that the discom has no reason to falsely implicate the complainant.
Vinay Kakran, civil judge (junior division), in his order earlier this week set aside the case of power theft and directed DHBVN to refund the penalty amount to the consumer.