In Brief
A house owner, Saleem Ahmed, was served a bill of Rs. 97,786 for allegedly stealing electricity. The matter was settled in a Lok Adalat on 27 February 2015 for Rs. 83,120 "in full and final settlement." The appellant paid this amount. However, BSES subsequently filed an FIR for theft of electricity. The Supreme Court held that filing an FIR after a Lok Adalat settlement in full and final satisfaction of the claim is wholly unjust and illegal. Once a dispute is settled through an award, no FIR can follow unless such right was expressly reserved in the award. The appeal was allowed and the FIR was quashed.
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