Kenya Power got a big relief after it was spared from paying Sh71.5 million to an insurance firm following a fire.
The company succeeded in an appeal against a High Court judgment instructing it to pay African Merchant Assurance Company Ltd the money as compensation for damages resulting from the blaze, which razed several premises in Malindi.
Court of Appeal Judges Alnashir Visram, Wanjiru Karanja and Martha Koome said the appeal by the power utility had merit and set aside the judgment by Justice Said Chitembwe in favour of the insurance company.
Kenya Power had challenged the suit in the High Court, stating that it was the people insured, who were supposed to institute the case and not the insurance company.
The power firm also argued that it had no contractual relationship with the insurance company and did not owe it a duty of care.
Kenya Power argued that the contract for the supply of electricity was between itself and those who were covered by the insurance company.
The electricity distributor also challenged the award of damages by the High Court, saying that the judge did not go through the documents brought before him.
Kenya Power said that if the judge had gone through the documents, he would have noticed that there were discrepancies with regard to the policy documents or the payment discharge vouchers produced by the insurance company.