Electricity Act, 2003
152. Compounding of
offences.-
1.
Notwithstanding
anything contained in the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974), the
Appropriate Government or any officer authorised by it in this behalf may
accept from any consumer or person who committed or who is reasonably suspected
of having committed an offence of theft of electricity punishable under this
Act, a sum of money by way of compounding of the offence as specified in the
Table below:
TABLE
Nature of Service
|
Rate
at which the sum of money for Compounding to be collected per Kilowatt(KW)/
Horse Power(HP) or part thereof for Low Tension (LT) supply and per Kilo Volt
Ampere(KVA) of contracted demand for High Tension (HT)
|
1.
|
Industrial Service
twenty thousand rupees;
|
2.
|
Commercial Service
ten thousand rupees;
|
3.
|
Agricultural
Service two thousand rupees;
|
4.
|
Other Services four
thousand rupees:
|
Provided
that
the Appropriate Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, amend
the rates specified in the Table above.
1.
2.
On
payment of the sum of money in accordance with sub-section (1), any person in
custody in connection with that offence shall be set at liberty and no
proceedings shall be instituted or continued against such consumer or person in
any criminal court.
3.
The
acceptance of the sum of money for compounding an offence in accordance with
sub-section (1) by the Appropriate Government or an officer empowered in this
behalf shall be deemed to amount to an acquittal within the meaning of section
300 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974).
4.
The
compounding of an offence under sub-section (1) shall be allowed only once for
any person or consumer.