POWER THEFT - RS.1 CR.PENALTY SLAPPED ON FATHER-SON.

Father, son jailed for power theft; slapped Rs 1cr penalty 4 Jun 2009, 1710 hrs IST, PTI Print Email Discuss Share Save Comment Text: NEW DELHI: In the "highest ever" quantum of punishment awarded in a power theft case in Delhi, a special court here sentenced an industrialist to four years rigorous imprisonment and his son to seven-and-half months in prison besides slapping them a total fine of nearly Rs one crore. Holding that Pooran Chand, the industrialist, was a "habitual power thief", the court also debarred him from getting electricity from any source for three months. He was earlier caught for stealing over 102 KW of electricity. Besides the prison terms, the Special Court of Electricity in Dwarka slapped a fine of Rs 45.96 lakh on him. His son Mukesh Lakra, who was a consumer of BSES, was also fined Rs 22.98 lakh. Apart from the individual fines, a civil liability of Rs 30.64 lakh will be levied on them. Failing to pay the amount will attract a simple imprisonment for another six months, the court said. According to a release issued by BSES today, this is the highest even punishment awarded in a power theft case in Delhi. Chand owns a plastic bicycle wheels manufacturing unit in West Delhi. The duo was caught during a raid carried out by BSES enforcement team in December 2006 when it unearthed power theft of over 102 KW at the plastic factory.