Bihar industrialists who steal electricity to the tune
of hundreds of crores of rupees are granted amnesty
while a petty pilferer of Rs 6,000 is sent to jail.
Bureaucracy Today reports on the two faces of the
Bihar administration.While Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is eyeing the PM’s post in case the NDA comes to power some day with godsend political equations in his favour, his pro-development and anti-corruption image may get a serious setback if the state administration doesn’t set its own house in order.
The Bihar administration is allegedly giving a free hand to high-value power consumers who have been reportedly caught stealing electricity to the tune of hundreds of crores of rupees. The State Government which lost its case in the Patna High Court is unwilling to file a special leave petition (SLP) in the Supreme Court even when senior officials have written in several reports that the case is fit to be challenged in the apex court. Bureaucracy Today comes up with a tale of the topmost echelons of the Bihar Government allegedly colluding with big industrialists to provide legal cover to their stealing of electricity. The tax-payers pay Rs 2,160 crores annually– over and above their punishing electricity bills–to bridge the revenue gap of the Bihar State Electricity Board (BSEB). The losses have spiralled to the tune of Rs 1,800 crore in the relevant year. More than 44 % of the electricity generated in the State is lost to these industrial electricity thieves, while large sections of rural Bihar have to make do with an inadequate power supply, or no power at all, leading even to a disturbing new phenomenon - the bijli riot. So is the Bihar Government growing comfortable with this disturbing development?
ELECTRICITY VIGILANCE CELL RESTRAINED
On May 6, 2008, a rolling mill was raided by the Vigilance Cell as part of an intensive campaign to detect electricity theft through the tampering with meters and allegedly caught Dadijee Steel redhanded. On June 4, 2008, the BSEB published an advertisement asking consumers for a voluntary declaration under Clause 11.4 of the Bihar State Electricity Supply Code 2007, which allowed the consumer to voluntarily declare that his meter was tampered with. The ad said if the BSEB accepted the declaration, the matter would be settled for peanuts and the culprit would escape criminal prosecution as well.
On June 27, 2008, the “voluntary” declaration of Dadijee Steel was accepted by the Board, under the chairmanship of Sapan Mukherjee. The “voluntary” declaration of theft by the thief after he was allegedly caught stealing and a case registered against him baffles common sense since it was specifically prohibited by Clause 11.6 of the Bihar State Electricity Supply Code 2007.And yet, Dadijee Steel was allowed to settle the matter for Rs 1 crore, escaping a back-breaking fine of Rs 20 crore as well as criminal prosecution. The then Vigilance Cell DG, Anand Shankar, continued the investigation of his case No 67/08 registered against Dadijee Steel and protested against the act of the BSEB Chairman. After Anand Shankar’s transfer, Manoje Nath took the charge as DG, Electricity Vigilance Cell, in February 2009 . The BSEB Chairman in a letter dated March 9, 2009 to the State Power Department Deputy Secretary states, “The board was not aware of the raid by the Electricity Vigilance Cell. In the light of the consumer being charged under Section 135 of the Electricity Act 2003 and a prior investigation by the vigilance cell, the voluntary declaration should be considered ineffective.” But he still did not raise a bill for Rs 20 crore and let the matter to be settled for Rs 1 crore. In the meanwhile, the Principal Secretary (Energy) also said that such an act would only encourage power theft and embolden power thieves.
