N.D.P.L. Vs. SONY STEELS

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THESE are two Appeals ­ one by Mr. Narender Kumar Gupta, the Appellant in Crl. A. 230 of 2008 and the other by North Delhi Power Limited ('NDPL'), being Crl. A. No. 57 of 2008 against the impugned judgment dated 29th September 2007 and the conviction order dated 5th October 2007 passed by the learned Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ'), Delhi.

(2.) BY the impugned judgment dated 29th September 2007, the learned ASJ held Mr. Narender Kumar Gupta to be guilty of the offence under Section 135 of the Electricity Act, 2003 ('Áct'), and by the said order, the civil liability was determined to be Rs. 1,98,762 on the basis of 6x5 formula. As regards the sentence for the conviction under Section 135 of the Act, the learned ASJ, by the separate conviction order dated 5th October 2007, sentenced Mr. Gupta to a fine of Rs. 1,00,000, and in default thereof, to undergo rigorous imprisonment for nine months.

(3.) MR . Vikram Nandarajog, learned counsel for the NDPL, on the other hand, submitted that it had come in evidence that there was no occasion for only the meter of the accused to be burnt if there was indeed a possibility of a spike of electricity in the system, because the neighbouring meters were all found to be intact. Secondly, it was submitted that for direct injection, there was no need to tamper with the seal as long as the accused had access to the mains from which the high voltage electricity was being injected. He referred to the denial by the witnesses of the NDPL in their cross -examinations, that they had failed to bring on record all the meters checked by the neighbours only because there was no such checking of the neighbours' meters. He submitted that the learned trial Court had acted fairly in restricting the calculation of the amount payable to a period of 1 1/2 months and had also not sentenced the accused to any imprisonment.