Private school booked for power theft

Private school in Defence allegedly having an illegal electricity connection
Karachi, Aug 29: The Karachi Electric Supply Company has disconnected the power supply to a private school in Defence Phase VIII for allegedly having an illegal electricity connection for several years without having applied for the same to the utility.

An FIR (No 38) was registered on August 27, 2009 by the KESC police under Section 39 of the Electricity Act against the users and owners of the school, Mr and Mrs Tariq Jameel.

The KESC raiding party had found that electricity was allegedly being used through an illegal connection at the L'ecole School for Advanced Studies, located on Khayaban-i-Shaheen, in Defence Phase VIII, according to the FIR.

KESC sources said that the school has 30 classrooms with 45 air conditioners installed on the premises, and the total connected load was estimated to be at 132kW. The school was operating in two shifts.

According to the supervisor of the KESC inspection team, Mujeeb Alam, who is the complainant in the FIR, during inspection of the school on Thursday at 3pm he found that an old "fake meter" was installed there, of which there was no record with the utility. The number on the meter was not on the billing panel of the KESC and the consumer had allegedly got it installed on his own from a private party.

The KESC raiding party, upon inspection, allegedly found that the user had laid illegal underground cable and got it hooked up to the KESC's main supply line around a nearby mosque.

At the time of the raid, the KESC team found 118.42kW of load on the premises. On inquiry, the team was informed that the owners of the school were Mr and Mrs Tariq Jameel, the complainant said in the FIR.

The KESC official who conducted the raid said that upon discovery of illegal electricity being used in the school, he had the connection disconnected and about 184 feet of the underground cable used for illegal use of electricity was impounded as evidence.

The KESC official has maintained in the FIR that when he had checked the use of electricity on Aug 3, he had discovered electricity theft, which he had reported to his higher ups. On their direction, he had raided the premises again on Thursday, said Mujeeb Alam, KESC supervisor inspection services in the FIR.

According to sources, a case has been registered against the user, who allegedly did not pay the provisional bill of Rs1.5 million. The KESC was estimating the loss in terms of units to be around 500,000 units. The loss sustained for a period of three years has been estimated to be around Rs67 million.

It is worth asking, however, that if the alleged power theft has been taking place since 2001, and the user had never applied for a power connection, why did it take so long for the utility to act?

Observers say this is indicative of the connivance of the KESC staff at higher levels, and possibly of someone in whose territorial jurisdiction the school falls.

When this reporter attempted to contact the school's owners for their opinion on the matter, they did not answer their phones. As such, one could not obtain the counter view to the KESC's contention of illegal use of electricity and also its claim of sending a provisional bill. It was not possible to verify the outstanding amount against the school and the reason for such a situation. Dawn

Post your comments

IBA student's petition
Karachi: The SHC termed the three years expulsion of a business administration student as harsh punishment and directed the Institute of Business Administration to consider the expulsion case of a student in the light of High Court's order in an identical case.

Post your comments

SHC notices to BSEK on student's plea
Karachi: The Sindh High Court (SHC) issued notices to the Secretary, Board of Secondary Education, and its Controller on the petition of student seeking rechecking of his examination papers.

Syed Mohammad Moshin submitted that he applied for rechecking of three papers English, Urdu, and Maths but despite taking the fees, the BSEK did not issue the result of rechecking. He submitted that he could obtained a position if paper were thoroughly checked by the Board. The court was prayed to direct the respondent to produce the original copy of the petitioner and recheck and re-evaluate the exam sheets of three subjects.

The SHC's division bench issued notices to Advocate General and the respondent Board and called their comments on September 15. The same court also issued a notice to the PIA administration on petition of 46 employees who sought the benefit of re-instatement. Masroor and others submitted that they were removed in 1981 but reinstated in 1990. However their back benefits prior to reinstatement were not being given to them.

Post your comments

Varsity teachers asked to take classes
Khairpur: Pro Vice Chancellor of the Shah Abdul Latif University, Khairpur, Prof Dr Abdullah Phulpoto, has directed deans of faculties and chairmen of their respective departments to ensure the presence of teachers in classes.

In a directive, he said the officials should identify teachers who miss their classes. He said students come from different parts of the Khairpur district for getting education and it was the prime duty of teachers to take their classes and ensure quality of education.

Prof Abdullah directed the chairmen of respective departments to report to the vice chancellor or his office daily about the attendance of teachers and students. He said there was a time when teachers searched for students in their class rooms but now students were looking for teachers.

Meanwhile, Sindh Governor and Chancellor of the Universities, Dr Ishratul Ebad, has granted two-year extension to Prof Abdullah as Pro Vice Chancellor of the university up to September, 2011. The news

Post your comments