P&H: Electricity - Theft - No FIR registered and no complaint preferred before Special Court, Jurisdiction of Civil Court cannot be held barred u/s.154
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has held that an allegation of electricity theft does not, by itself, bar a consumer from approaching a Civil Court. Justice Deepak Manchanda ruled that the bar under Section 154 of the Electricity Act, 2003, does not apply where no FIR has been registered and no complaint has been filed before the Special Court.
The case arose from a dispute between The Delhi Pinjrapole Society, which operates a gaushala in Faridabad, and Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam. The Society challenged an electricity assessment and penalty after the power utility alleged theft and assessed a...