AVTAR SINGH vs STATE OF PUNJAB

The Supreme Court held that the conviction of the appellant for theft of electrical energy under Section 39 of the Indian Electricity Act, 1910, was illegal as the prosecution was not instituted at the instance of any person specified in Section 50 of the Act. The Court clarified that while the dishonest abstraction of electricity is deemed theft under the IPC, the specific procedural requirements of Section 50 must be adhered to for a valid prosecution. Consequently, the conviction was set aside, and the Court overruled previous decisions that allowed such prosecutions without compliance with Section 50.