New Delhi, 2 April 2008

Press Release

Plastic factory owner - a 7 times power theft accused sentenced to 2 years Rigorous Imprisonment and levied an additional penalty of Rs 82 lakh

• Master Puram Singh – owner of a mid sized plastic factory – and a habitual power thief sentenced to 2 years Rigorous Imprisonment
• Accused also asked by the Special Court to pay a fine of Rs 82 lakh – failing which he has to undergo a further imprisonment of 6 months
• Master Puran Singh was earlier caught by BSES Enforcement Teams stealing 69 KW of power and panelised Rs 27.24 lakh

Special Court of Electricity, Vikaspuri has sentenced one Mater Puran Singh – owner of a mid sized plastic factory and a habitual power thief to 2 years of Rigorous Imprisonment and levied an additional fine of Rs 82.46 lakh – failing which the accused will have to undergo a further imprisonment of six months.

Earlier, the accused had been caught by a BRPL Enforcement team stealing over 69 KW of power for running his mid sized plastic factory at No 1, Kh, No 76 Village Ranholla, Nangloi. Subsequently a penalty amount of Rs 27.48 lakh – as per the provisions laid in the Indian Electricity Act, 2003, was levied on him. When he failed to deposit the penalty amount, BSES filed a case in the Special Court on 23 December 2006.

After hearing the arguments of both sides and going through the evidence presented by BSES, the Court sentenced him Mater Puran Singh to Rigorous Imprisonment. The Court also noted that stealing heavy loads of electricity, makes electricity a costly affair for law-abiding citizens. The court also refused to show leniency to the accused in this social crime.

“This is not the first time, Master Puram Singh – was caught stealing power. In the last two years, he has been caught staling power a whopping 7 times. Several cases are going on against him”, said a BSES official.

Rampant power theft is taking place in the plastic factories – most of them illegal and operating in the areas of Village Ranholla, Kamruddin, Vishnu Garden, Khyala and adjoining areas. Over the last few months, in a massive crackdown on power theft in these areas, BRPL Enforcement teams have unearthed power theft load of over a whopping 10,000 KW and booked over 510 cases.

Area	Cases booked	Load Booked (KW)
Ranholla	90	2971
Kamruddin Nagar	62	3491
Vikaspuri	262	2633
Khyala Village	105	934
Total	519	10029

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	39999088/9350130304