Police take action over Kejriwal’s ‘power’ protest
10 Oct 2012
Activist-turned-politician Arvind Kejriwal's extreme action of restoring the electric connection of people who couldn't pay their electricity bills seems to have backfired, as one of them today sold his TV set to pay a Rs4,500 bill.
Launching a 'bijli-pani satyagraha' against allegedly inflated utility bills in Delhi, Kejriwal had last week himself rewired the power connection of Roshan Sharma, a dweller of Tigri Colony in South Delhi, and some others.
But the distribution company (discom), BSES Rajdhani Power Ltd, filed a police complaint against these persons on Monday.
Roshan Sharma said, "My family and I were being harassed. So I sold our TV and took a loan to pay our bill."
The police have filed first information reports (cases) against the Delhi households whose power connections Kejriwal had restored. The complaining discom has invoked Section 138 of the Indian Electricity Act, which states that it is illegal to interfere and fiddle with the electricity network. The discom said unauthorised power connection is a punishable offence that may attract imprisonment up to three years.
Another labourer, Bansi Ram, got a power bill of Rs15,000 last month, and since he was unable to pay it, the discom cut off electricity to this house. His was the first to be restored by Kejriwal amid orchestrated publicity. But he too faces police action.
