Appropriate Commission or any of their officer authorized by them or a Chief Electrical Inspector or an Electrical Inspector or licensee or the generating company, as the case may be, for this purpose.

(1)Notwithstanding anything contained in the Code of Criminal Procedure 1973, the Appropriate Government or any officer authorized by it in this behalf may accept from any consumer or person who committed or who is reasonably suspected of having committed an offence of theft of electricity punishable under this Act, a sum of money by way of compounding of the offence as specified in the Table below:

TABLE

Nature of Service Rate at which the sum of money for

Compounding to be collected per Kilowatt(KW)/Horse Power(HP) or part thereof for Low Tension (LT) supply and per Kilo Volt Ampere(KVA) of contracted demand for High Tension (HT) -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Provided that the Appropriate Government may, by notification in the

Official Gazette, amend the rates specified in the Table above.

1. (2) On payment of the sum of money in accordance with sub-section (1), any person in custody in connection with that offence shall be set at liberty and no proceedings shall be instituted or continued against such consumer or person in any criminal court.
2. (3) The acceptance of the sum of money for compounding an

offence in accordance with sub-section (1) by the Appropriate Government or an

officer authorised in this behalf empowered in this behalf shall be deemed to

amount to an acquittal within the meaning of section 300 of the Code of Criminal

Procedure, 1973.

(4)The Compounding of an offence under sub-section (1) shall be allowed only once for any person or consumer.

PART – XV

SPECIAL COURTS