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Judgment
The complainant/respondent was residing in Village Barwala using electricity provided in the name of his uncle, namely, Mr. Bhovanbhai Ratnabhai. A fire broke out in the house of the complainant on 27.5.2008 resulting in huge loss to the complainant. The allegation of the complainant is that the fire took place on account of short circuiting which, in turn, was caused by high voltage in the electricity supply. The complainant, therefore, approached the concerned District Forum by way of a consumer complaint, seeking compensation, etc.
The complaint was resisted by the petitioner which denied the allegation that the fire was caused on account of short circuiting due to high voltage.
The District Forum partly allowed the complaint and directed the petitioner Company to pay a sum of Rs.1,50,000/- to the complainant along with interest.
Being aggrieved from the order passed by the District Forum, the petitioner approached the concerned State Commission by way of an appeal. The said appeal also having been dismissed, the petitioner is before this Commission by way of this revision petition.
Admittedly, no electrical engineer was examined by the complainant to prove the cause of the alleged short circuiting in his house. In the absence of technical evidence to prove the cause of short circuiting, it cannot be known whether the alleged short circuiting happened on account of high voltage or on account of some other reason. The onus, in my view, was upon the complainant to prove that the cause of short circuiting was none other than high voltage in the electricity supply. That having not been done, he failed to discharge the onus placed upon him.
More importantly even if it is assumed for the sake of arguments that there was high voltage in the electricity supply that by itself will not prove any negligence or deficiency on the part of the petitioner in rendering supply to the consumers unless it is shown that the high voltage had occurred on account of some defect or deficiency in the transformer or other apparatus installed or maintained by the petitioner. The complainant did not even try to ascertain the cause of the alleged high voltage in the electricity supply. In fact the report of the F.S.L. clearly shows that there was no short circuiting found in the electrical wire and apparatus.
For the reasons stated hereinabove, the impugned orders cannot be sustained and the same are set aside. The complaint is consequently dismissed with no order as to costs.