In a letter to the chairman of the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC), Justice R C Chopra has said the discoms cannot be both the complainant and the authority that tests these “faulty” meters.

The letter sent to the DERC on Thursday says the process of checking faulty meters is an “anathema to justice and fair play”.

“If a discom suspects that somebody is tampering with meter, it is sealed and the discoms take it to their labs for testing. Then they file a complaint in the special electricity courts where power theft invites up to three years imprisonment and a heavy penalty,” a power department official said.

To ensure a fair system, Justice Chopra has suggested that such meters be sealed by the discoms and sent to the Central Power Research Institute (CPRI), which recently set up a lab in Noida.

He has conveyed to the DERC that the lab will meet all requirements necessary for testing meters.

“The system will be vastly fairer if an independent body, preferably a government body, tests meters suspected to be tampered,” an official in the Public Grievance Cell said.

“If somebody is going to be charged a heavy penalty for power theft, it is entirely unfair to let the complainant decide the level of foul play.”