In Brief
A consumer of electricity was charged under the Electricity Act, 2003 for theft of electricity and filed an FIR. The parties settled the dispute in a Lok Adalat in February 2018 for Rs. 1,60,000, with BSES agreeing to withdraw all cases. The consumer sought to quash the FIR under Section 482 of the Criminal Procedure Code, but the High Court dismissed the petition. The Supreme Court allowed the appeal and remanded the case to the High Court, directing it to examine the matter afresh in light of Section 152 of the Electricity Act, 2003, which deals with compounding of offences under that Act.
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