J&K Finance ministers Abdul Rahim Rathers son Hilal Rather has been handed a penalty of Rs 21 lakh by the Power Development Department (PDD) in a power theft case. However,no police case was registered in the matter even as power theft is recognised as a cognizable offence in the state. A PDD inspection team,which inspected the premises of Hilals firm M/s Simula Software at Bathindi in Jammu last month,found out 95KW power consumption against the sanctioned load of 5KW. Also since no electronic metre was installed,the team recommended a penalty be imposed for the excess load since the commissioning of the building. On the basis of the report,we have imposed a penalty of Rs 21 lakh on him, said Sanjeev Rohmetra of the Electricity and Maintenance Sub Division.
