Patna: Leader of Opposition Abdul Bari Siddique
Wednesday demanded a CBI probe into the alleged revenue loss of
over Rs 4000 crore by Bihar State Electricity Board since 2008
due to non-realisation of penalty from industrial units.
Siddique in a letter to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said a
state agency was incapable of probing the matter and the CBI
probe would rein in electricity theft, increase the revenue of
the department and improve power supply in Bihar.
He claimed that 53 industrial units had been found guilty
of involvement in deliberate theft of electricity by tampering
meters and resorting to other measures apparently with the
help of BSEB engineers.
But the concerned department relaxed the rules of penalty
and allowed those involved in electricity theft to get away
with minor fines, he said, adding it later barred surprise
checks at the industrial installations to detect electricity
thefts.
The relaxation in the BSEB rules were pointer to the
involvement of its officials and engineers in causing revenue
loss to the former for personal gains, he alleged.
If the penalties to be realised from all firms and
industrial units in the state were added then the amount would
exceed Rs 4000 crore, he said adding the revenue loss to BSEB
was caused by its officials and engineers in collusion with
'some powerful people in power'.
PTI
First Published: Wednesday, May 04, 2011, 21:32