Electricity Lok Adalat settles 1,572 cases

A total of 1,670 legal cases pertaining to electricity theft were taken up for settlement by the Delhi State Legal Services Authority (DSLSA) over the weekend at a special Lok Adalat organised in association with BSES Rajdhani Power Limited for customers and litigants of South and West Delhi.

Twelve special benches were constituted at Saket Court Complex exclusively for the hearings on Saturday and Sunday. A consumer, with any dispute, could walk in for on-the-spot settlement of their disputes.

"A total of 1,572 cases were settled and settlement amount was approximately Rs 5.77 crore," a statement issued by the DLSA said.

According to BSES, the cases that were settled at the Lok Adalat held an approximate value of Rs 12.31 crore. The Lok Adalat took up cases of any amount that were either pending or were yet-to-be-filed in any court of law, and gave litigants a one-time opportunity for an amicable and on-the-spot settlement of their power theft cases, relating to direct theft and metre tampering, a BSES spokesperson said.

Customers, whose cases were settled, have been given time of 15 to 45 days to pay up. Depending on the financial position of the customers, the BRPL also allowed some litigants to pay their dues in instalments.

"The Lok Adalat was a success because of the encouragement and support of Justice D Murugesan, Chief Justice of Delhi High Court and Chairman of Delhi State Legal Services Authority; Asha Menon, Member Secretary of DSLSA and Vrinda Kumari, Secretary of DSLSA (Saket court)," the spokesperson said.

According to the DSLSA, 866 cases were taken up on Saturday and 817 cases were settled for an amount of Rs 2,56,31,824. A total of 804 cases were taken up on Sunday and 755 cases were settled at Rs 3,21,13,049.

"The exercise was a win-win for everybody. For the customers, it meant an opportunity to amicably settle their cases and an escape from a prolonged and an expensive legal process. For an overworked judiciary, it took some burden off their courts. For BSES, it meant, more people coming under the billing net," the BSES spokesperson said.

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