The Allahabad High Court has directed action against three junior engineers of the Moradabad Electricity Corporation, who extorted money from consumers in the garb of checking.
The Division Bench of Justice Manoj Kumar Gupta and Justice Dinesh Pathak passed this order while hearing a petition filed by Kalpana Rani.
As per the Court’s order dated 26.04.2022, a three-member Enquiry Committee was constituted to ascertain the veracity of the allegations levelled by the petitioner in relation to fake checking at his premises.
The Court noted that the report of the Enquiry Committee, supplied by the Standing Counsel, is shocking. The Committee found that the checking was fake and has advised for restoring the electricity supply forthwith and for action being taken against Ravi Ranjan, Sanjeev Rohela and O.P. Verma, Junior Engineers. The Enquiry Committee consisted of Superintending Engineer, Electricity Distribution Division, Moradabad, Additional Superintendent of Police (Traffic), Moradabad and Additional District Magistrate (Administration), Moradabad.
We require the concerned Superintending Engineer to file his personal affidavit disclosing the steps taken to implement the recommendation of the Enquiry Committee, the Court said.
The Court has fixed the next hearing of the petition on July 4, 2022.
A complaint was made on behalf of the petitioner that some people reached his house and started checking the meter etc., pretending to be employees of the Electricity Corporation. They also imposed a penalty on the petitioner. When he got doubts, he complained to the DM and the commissioner. When the matter was investigated, it was found to be fake. The petitioner had filed a petition in the High Court seeking action.