Will foot bill of setting up dedicated police station for power theft cases: Discom to HC

Power discom BSES Rajdhani today informed the Delhi High Court that it was willing to bear the capital expenditure of setting up a dedicated police station to deal with cases of electricity theft.

The submission was made by the discom before a bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar as Delhi Police had earlier said it would not be feasible to set up a separate station to deal with such matters "due to operational and administrative reasons".

BSES Rajdhani volunteered to foot the cost of setting up the police station, if the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) approved it, after the court asked the Delhi Police to create a special squad to deal with power theft cases.

Delhi Police lawyer Gautam Narayan expressed reservation on the proposal by the discom, saying that it would probably pass on the cost of setting up the station to its consumers.

The court, thereafter, asked the discom to inform it on the next date, September 25, whether the power company was willing to bear the burden of setting up the dedicated police station.

The bench also asked the DERC and the police to indicate their views regarding the discom's proposal.

The court was hearing a PIL seeking directions to DERC, BSES Rajdhani and the Delhi Police to take steps to prevent power theft in the national capital.

The petitioner, Raman Suri, in his plea has alleged that the discoms shift the burden of electricity thefts to the genuine customers by raising their tariff.

This allegation has been denied by the discom BSES Rajdhani.