Judge says verdict could affect marriage prospects of convict's daughter

A 54-year-old business man held guilty of stealing electricity has been sentenced by a Delhi court to day-long detention in the courtroom after he cleared his punitive power bill worth Rs 4.02 lakh to the power distribution firm.

Observing that the convict has one daughter of marriageable age and observing that the sentence would affect her marriage, Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) S K Gupta sentenced Delhi resident Rameshwar Singh to detention "till rising of the court".

"The convict is a first-time offender. There is nothing on the record to show that he has been previously convicted for the same offence. The convict also has one marriageable daughter and substantive sentence will affect the prospect of her marriage.

"The convict has already deposited a sum of Rs three lakh with the complainant and balance settlement amount is brought by him in the court. All these facts coupled with the fact that convict has settled the civil liability with complainant, a lenient view is taken in his favour. Hence, the convict is sentenced to undergo imprisonment till rising of the court," the court said.

Noting that Rs 3 lakh have been paid, the court held that Singh is liable to pay the remaining Rs 1.02 lakh out of 4.02 lakh liability to BSES Rajdhani Power Ltd for the loss he has caused to discom by stealing 89.56 KWs of power for industrial purposes.

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A BSES team had inspected Singh's premises in West Delhi on September 8, 2008 and he was caught stealing power by tapping into the main service line of BSES.

The court also said that Singh's testimony shows that he was user of the inspected premises. "The factory is owned by the accused. The accused has not come out with any explanation that someone else is using the inspected premises or someone else is owner of the factory meaning thereby that accused is user of the inspected premises".

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