ARAKHITA PATNAIK Vs. STATE OF ORISSA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner stood prosecuted under Section 39 of the Indian Electricity Act, 1910 and Section 379, Indian Penal Code and having been found guilty was convicted and sentenced to undergo R.I. for one month and to pay fine of Rs. 500/- in default to undergo R.I. for a further period of 15 days. In appeal before the Additional Sessions Judge, Bhubaneswar, .the appellate court confirmed the conviction and sentence passed against the petitioner. Being aggrieved by the findings of conviction and sentence by both the courts below the petitioner has filed this revision.

(2.) The scenario of the prosecution story as revealed from the trial Court's judgment is that Sri S. P. Padhi, P.W. 4 who was the Assistant Engineer, Electrical, O.S.E.B., Bhubaneswar working in Vigilance squad lodged a written report (vide Ext. 1) that he received a confidential report about the theft of electrical energy in village Malipada and accordingly proceeded to the Village with the local police staff to conduct raid in the said village on 17-8-88. In course of the raid it was found that the petitioner had unauthorisedly used electrical energy through the mechanism of hooking process direct from the L.P. line and thereby had lighted is house by electric bulb. Such unauthorised obstruction of electrical energy amounted to theft of the same. Therefore, P.W. 4 lodged a report against this petitioner immediately following the detection.

(3.) The petitioner, however, took a plea of denial of the prosecution case and, inter alia, pleaded that he had never utilised energy nor committed theft of the same by hooking process.