_______________________________________________________________________
Withdrawal of CISF to Discoms a violation of the
Supreme Court Order
BSES to appeal against it
- BSES to appeal against the order, say
it’s a big setback to Public-Private-Partnership’s success in
- Withdrawal of CISF cover would
severely hamper
- Potential to undo the good work on the
power theft front
- CISF was made available in 2006/2007
for a period of 5 years
- CISF’s need had been necessitated due
to brute physical attacks on discoms enforcement teams
In a decision
that will have serious ramification for
This order infact tantamount to a violation of a 2004 Supreme Court Order
that directed the State and Union Governments to provide the necessary police protection to officials
of NDPL and BSES - as may be required by them in their anti power theft drives.
BSES has decided to appeal against the order. “It’s
a huge setback to the success of Public-Private-Partnership’s (PPP) in
Supreme Court Judgment
The Hon’ble
Justice Ruma Pal of the Hon’ble Supreme Court had passed a direction to the
Govt.of India and the GoNCTD vide an Order dated November 29, 2004 in the “Power
Crises in NCT of Delhi” vs. Union of India & Others on the issue.
The order had
directed the State Government/ Union Government to provide the necessary police
protection to officials of NDPL and BSES as may be required by them in the
Anti-theft drive/ measures for detection of offences, carrying out raids,
searches and seizures in accordance with the provisions of the Electricity Act,
2003 and for taking action against the persons obstructing the officials from
carrying out their duties and registering cases under the appropriate
provisions of the law, against such persons.
Only after much lobbing and appealing, each of the
“We
were earlier told that the CISF cover is only being withdrawn on a temporary
basis – till the elections are over. This decision has been total shock to us.
This will be a huge setback for us, in our drive against power theft. This
decision may undo all the good work done by BSES on the power theft front in
the last 2-3 years. Sans any protection, now, we may not be able carry out
raids in many of the power theft areas”, said a BSES official.
“We
plan to appeal to the concerned authorities against the order. Under the
agreement, the services of the CISF had been provided to the discoms for a five
year period. It’s not fair for the service to be withdrawn after just a 2/3
year period”, added the official.
Need
for CISF Cover
The need for the
CISF cover was necessitated, to tackle the menace of rampant power theft in
While on legally
mandated enforcement drives, discoms (including BSES) enforcement teams often
came (still do) under brute physical attack from mobs and anti social elements
during their anti power theft drives - often sustaining grievous injuries. This
made cracking down on power theft extremely difficult.
For the safety
of their personnel, discoms (including BSES) often requested Delhi Police to
provide personnel, to accompany their teams on power theft raids, especially in
high power theft areas. Often, due to their official engagements, the
overworked policemen weren’t available.
Success
with CISF
The allotment of CISF to the
Agreement
- Under the
agreement, each of the discom had to bear an annual expense of around Rs
1.25 crore for getting the service of the CISF, in addition to providing
them with accommodation and paying for their arms and ammunitions.
BSES, Delhi’s premier power distribution
company, is committed to ensuring quality and reliable electricity supply to
all its consumers.
For further information please contact:
|
Prashant Dua |
Chandra P Kamat |
|
Corporate
Communications |
Corporate Communications |
|
39999870 /
9312007822 |
39999642/9350130304 |