The writ, filed by other attorney-at-law Mr Rafiq Khan, said, last March 27, GPL, a public supplier of electricity under the provisions of the Electricity Section Reform Act, negligently and or in breach of statutory duty, caused a rise in the voltage supplied to the plaintiffs' house and electrical shortages resulted in damage to various equipment, including a television set, a surge protector and an uninterrupted power supply UPS) unit.

The Ramkarrans said the higher voltage was followed by a blackout and, later the same day, before the electricity supply was restored, Janet Ramkarran connected a generator at their house to get current and, immediately, two fires broke out, destroying a television set in the living room and the surge protector in a bedroom.

The plaintiffs said, by the time the blazes were extinguished, the entire bedroom and its contents had been destroyed.

Still later that day, when the electricity supply was resumed, Janet Ramkarran reconnected to it and the UPS was destroyed by fire and lost.