- (1.) M/s. Seahorse Shipping and Shipmanagement Private Limited, the petitioner 1 herein, is a company incorporated under the Companies Act, 1956. It carries on business as a Steamer Agent in the Port of Calcutta and acts as Steamer Agents of various parties including Ceylon Shipping Corporation, a company incorporated in Sri Lanka.
(2.) The Ceylon Shipping Corporation carries on business as shipowners and carriers of goods. The goods which are destined for delivery in India are picked up by Ceylon Shipping Corporation from various Ports and are unloaded at Colombo. From Colombo the goods are transhipped to vessels operated by Ceylon Shipping Lines, a subsidiary of Ceylon Shipping Corporation, which operates a feeder service between Colombo and the Indian Ports. Delivery of cargo at Indian Ports are given on the basis of production of Bills of Lading issued by the Ceylon Shipping Corporation.
(3.) It is the case of the petitioner that the petitioner 1, M/s. Seahorse Shipping and Shipmanagement Private Limited (hereinafter described as the Seahorse) at all material times acted and still acts as the Steamer Agent of the Ceylon Shipping Corporation. It renders service as such Agents to many other shipping companies. The Ceylong Shipping Corporation for the purpose of carrying cargo from Colombo to Indian Ports and from the Indian Ports to Colombo used to charter and still charters slots in container ships. It is the case of the petitioners that it acted as Agent on behalf of any shipper for unloading cargo from ships and that it acted as slot charterer of any ship belonging to the Ceylon Shipping Corporation or any other company. This assertion of the petitioner is to be borne in mind in deciding the controversy raised in this case.;