Satbir Singh & ANR. v. State N C T Of Delhi & ANR.

$~80 * IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI + SATBIR SINGH & ANR.

.....Petitioners Through:

Mr. Shivam Kumar, D-10309/2021, Mr. Deepanshu Rana, Mr. Deepak Shah, Mr. Harshit Shishodia, Mr.

L.K. Tyagi, Mr. Vishal Chauhan and Mr. Sandeep Kumar, Advocates versus STATE N C T OF DELHI & ANR.

.....Respondents Through:

Mr. Shoaib Haider, APP for the State.

Mr. Moksh Arora, Mr. Santosh Ramdurg and Mr. Yash Srivastava, Advocates for R-2.

SI Kanhaiya Lal, PS Shahdara

CORAM:

HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE SUBRAMONIUM PRASAD

O R D E R

% 12.08.2024 CRL.M.A. 23787/2024 (Exemption) Allowed, subject to all just exceptions.

1.

The Petitioners have approached this Court for quashing FIR No.147/2023 dated 22.05.2023 registered at Police Station Shahdara for offences under Section 135, 138 & 150 of Indian Electricity Act, 2003. 2.

It is stated in the FIR that the officers of Respondent No.2 conducted a raid on the premises of the Petitioners on 11.11.2021 and found that the Petitioners have been committing theft of electricity by tampering with the The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above.

electricity meters. Consequently, the instant FIR was registered against the Petitioners.

3.

It is stated that pending the trial, the Petitioners have entered into a settlement with Respondent No.2. It is stated that the Petitioners have paid a sum of Rs.42,000/- in lieu of full and final settlement with Respondent No.2. It is stated that after the payment of the entire settlement amount to Respondent No.2, a No Dues Certificate dated 22.07.2024 has been issued by the Respondent No.2, which has been annexed with the present petition as Annexure P-2.

4.

It is contended by the learned Counsel for the Petitioners that in view of the No Dues Certificate, since the claims of the Respondent No.2 are satisfied, no useful purpose would be served in continuing with the present proceedings and the instant FIR may be quashed. 5.

Learned Counsel for the Petitioners places reliance on the judgments passed by this Court to substantiate his contentions that once the parties have entered into a settlement, the offences under Section 135, 138 & 150 of the Indian Electricity Act can be quashed. Reliance has been placed on the following judgments:

a) Pawan Kumar Paswan & Anr. v. The State Govt. of NCT of Delhi & Anr., CRL.M.C. 5943/2024;

b) Vijay Kumar v. The State (NCT of Delhi) and Ors., CRL. M.C. No. 3845 of 2018;

c) Ajeet Kumar v. The State (GNCT Delhi) and Ors., CRL. M.C. No.63 of 2016;

d) Dev Kant Kamat v. State (NCT of Delhi) and Ors., CRL. M.C. No.5087/2014.

The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above.

6.

In the abovementioned judgments, this Court quashed FIRs in view of the settlement entered into between the parties and after No Dues Certificate had been issued by the Electricity Board.

7.

In view of the fact that the Petitioners have paid the entire amount as per the settlement and Respondent No.2 has issued the No Dues Certificate, this Court is inclined to quash the instant FIR. Resultantly, FIR No.147/2023 dated 22.05.2023 registered at Police Station Shahdara for offences under Section 135, 138 & 150 of Indian Electricity Act, 2003 and the proceedings emanating therefrom are hereby quashed.

8.

The petition stands disposed of in the abovementioned terms along with pending application(s), if any.

SUBRAMONIUM PRASAD, J AUGUST 12, 2024 hsk The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above.