Graft charges against power dept official: Consumer court orders govt probe

In 2005,Harvinder Pal,a resident of Ambala city,was imposed with a penalty of Rs 4 lakh by the Nigam. The Nigam staff had checked his premises and had found that the seals of the meter had been tampered with,and one of the seals was missing. Harvinder filed a complaint in the Ambala Consumer Forum. He claimed that he had been paying the electricity bills regularly and there was no tampering of seals,so the penalty should be revoked.

Since the Nigam did not produce an affidavit by any member of the checking party who checked the meter at Harvinder’s premises,the Ambala Forum set aside their penalty of Rs 4 lakh. The SDO filed an appeal against this order in the Consumer Commission,but again did not submit an affidavit by any member of the checking party.

While delivering the order,the Commission observed,“It is a matter of great concern that this case has been dealt with by the department in a very casual manner. By not filing the affidavits of the members of the checking party,they have tried to help the complainant (Harvinder).” The Commission stated that the penalty had to be set aside “due to the connivance of the complainant with the officials of the Nigam.”

The order observed,“It is a case of encouraging corruption in the department,and the officials of the Nigam have sought the seal of the quasi-judicial authority (State Commission),so that their action may not be noticed,which requires to be dealt with heavy hands.” The Commission stated,“We further make the observation that the officials who are found guilty under the inquiry would not be entrusted the powers to check the premises of the industrialist or any individual”.

By the orders of the Commission,a copy of the order has been sent to the Chief Secretary,Haryana,for information and necessary action.