Grounds of Judgment of Vincent Ng KimKhoay. J.

The Plaintiff Company (Plaintiffs), a large multinational company, had filed a claim under this suit (Encl. 1) against the Defendant Corporation-a considerably larger publicly subscribed national corporation-which inter alia, prayed:

(a) for a declaration that the Defendant Corporation is not entitled to issue and/or demand payment on the Special Bill No.6001 1501 02 and "bil rampai" No.060743 which was sent by the Defendants to the Plaintiffs for the period from May 1993 to February 1995;

(b) that the Defendant Corporation whether by themselves or by their Directors, their servants, agents or otherwise howsoever be restrained by an interlocutory injunction from disconnecting the electricity supply at Lot 37 Jalan 6, Bakar Arang Industrial Estate, 08000 Sungai Petani, Kedah Darul Aman pursuant to Special Bill No.6001 1501 02 and "bil rampai" No.060743 issued for the period from May 1993 to February 1995 until the hearing of this legal action or until a further order is made;

(c) that the Defendant Corporation whether by themselves or by their Directors, their servants, agents or otherwise howsoever be restrained by an interlocutory injunction from demanding the installment payments on the Special Bill and the "bil rampai" or to enforce the Bank Guarantee which was issued by the Plaintiff Company to the Defendant Corporation on the 20th March 1995, until the hearing of this suit or until such further order is made;

In tandem with the institution of this writ, the Plaintiffs had initially applied ex-parte for and was granted the interim injunctions, by way of a summons-in-chambers dated 3/8/95 (Enclosure 3) supported by the affidavit of Tai Teik Hock, affirmed on 31st July 1995 (Enclosure 2), which, upon their expiry, was closely followed by an inter-partes application by summons-in-chambers dated 22/8/95 (Enclosure 7), for two interlocutory injunctions vide prayers (a) and (b) of Enclosure 7, the terms of which are similar to the aforesaid prayers (b) and (c) of their Statement of Claim (Encl. 1). Enclosure 7, the current inter-partes application now before me for hearing, is opposed by the Defendant Corporation (TNB), through the affidavit of the Senior Manager Encik Azhari bin Mohd Pilus affirmed on 14/10/95 (Enclosure 19).

The crux of the battle between the parties here, stems from the issue by TNB of a special bill for the sum of RM 247,943.27 dated 15/3/95 followed by a "bil rampai" (supplementary bill) for the sum of RM 2,000 dated 16/3/95, and the circumstances surrounding the issuance of these two bills (hereinafter called the two bills).

The two bills arose out of TNB's alleged discovery that the blue power supply wire and the circuit board seal in the Plaintiffs' factory had been tampered with, which led to TNB forwarding the said two bills to the said Plaintiffs and threatening to cut off the power supply to their factory. The Plaintiffs contended that as they ran a major electronic factory in Sg. Patani, Kedah which was totally dependent on uninterrupted electrical power supply they felt compelled as a matter of urgent necessity to make 10% payment on the two bills and to arrange for a bank guarantee for RM 223,148.94 to cover the balance amount in the two bills.

Counsel for the Plaintiffs Mr Mureli submitted that there are serious dispute of fact in the case, as the Plaintiffs contend that the circuit board seal was neither broken nor tampered with, and if it was not broken the blue wire cannot be tampered with. To this, TNB countered (in paragraph 12 of their Enclosure 10) that they would be able to show to the Court at the full trial that the blue wire can be tampered with even without breaking the seal. In this regard it is noted that TNB had not challenged the Plaintiffs' assertion in paragraph 11 of Enclosure 2 that the seal had not been tampered with and was in good condition. The Plaintiffs further said that there was not a shred of evidence as to how this speci