Allahabad High Court
Ramesh Gupta @ Ramesh Kumar vs State Of U.P. Thru. Addl. Chief Secy. ... on 31 July, 2025
HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD, LUCKNOW BENCH ?Neutral Citation No. - 2025:AHC-LKO:44332 Court No. - 15 Case :- APPLICATION U/S 482 No. - 6144 of 2025 Applicant :- Ramesh Gupta @ Ramesh Kumar Opposite Party :- State Of U.P. Thru. Addl. Chief Secy. Home Deptt. Lko. And Another Counsel for Applicant :- Manoj Kumar Gupta,Rajesh Kumar Shukla Counsel for Opposite Party :- G.A. Hon'ble Subhash Vidyarthi,J.
Heard Sri Manoj Kumar Gupta, learned counsel for the applicants and Sri Awashesh Kumar Singh, learned AGA for the State and perused the record.
By means of instant application under Section 482 CrPC, the petitioner has challenged the validity of the order dated 19.04.2025 passed by the learned Additional Sessions Judge, Court No. 4, Unnao in SST No. 1776 of 2024, arising out of Case Crime No. 0189 of 2021 under Section 135 of Electricity Act, District-Unnao, whereby an application filed by the petitioner under Section 152 of Electricity Act has been rejected as not maintainable and non-bailable warrant has been issued against the petitioner.
The aforesaid case was instituted on the basis of FIR lodged on 09.02.2021 under Section 135 of the Electricity Act alleging commission of theft of electricity. The Executive Engineer has assessed the amount of revenue payable by the applicant as Rs. 1,06,000/- and fixed the compounding fee as Rs. 2,000/-. The applicant has not deposited the assessment amount and the compounding fee and without depositing the amount aforesaid, filed an application under Section 152 of the Electricity Act. Section 152 of the Electricity Act provides as follows:-
"152. Compounding of offences.? (1) Notwithstanding anything contained in the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, 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.
(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."
A bare perusal of Section 152 of the Act makes it manifest that the request of compounding of offence has to be made to the appropriate Government or the Officer authorized by it, who may accept a sum of money by way of compounding of the offence as specified in the table given in Section 152 of the Act. The applicant's service connection was not for Industrial service, Commercial service or Agricultural service, therefore, if falls within other services and the compounding fee payable in respect of such services connection would be Rs. 4,000/-.
The compounding fee is in respect of compounding of offence only and the payment of compounding fee would not exonerate the accused of the liability to pay the assessed value of the electricity consumed by him. In these circumstances of the case, the electricity supplier is justified in demanding the electricity charges further, the compounding fee as per provisions contained in Section 152 of the Electricity Act.
It is only after the payment of aforesaid amount, that the appropriate authority will accept the request for compounding of offence and after the authority has compounded the offence, the Court will close the proceedings. The compounding offence under Section 152 of the Act is not to be done by the trial Court.
Accordingly, the trial Court has not committed any error in rejecting the application under Section 135 of the Act as not maintainable. The application lacks merit and it is accordingly dismissed.
Order Date :- 31.7.2025 Vinay/-