GOVERNOR GENERAL IN COUNCIL Vs. MUSADDI LAL

JUDGEMENT

(1.) ON 30/01/1943, Bhola Nath Sambhu Ram as agent of the respondent L. Musaddilal delivered a bale of cloth to the railway administration E. I. Rly. at Agra railway station for carriage by railway to the Chola Station in the E. I. Rly. The consignment was accepted by the railway administration and a railway receipt was issued in the name of the consignor Bhola Nath Sambhu Ram. Bhola Nath Sambhu Ram endorsed the railway receipt in favour of the respondent and sent it by post to the respondent. The bale of cloth did not reach Chola, and the railway administration was unable despite efforts to trace it. There was correspondence between the railway administration and the respondent about the consignment. Failing to obtain satisfaction for the loss suffered by him, the respondent served a composite notice under S. 77 of the Indian Railways Act and S. 80 of the Civil Procedure Code on 7/12/1943 and thereafter on 18/05/1944, filed suit No. 283 of 1944 in the court of the II Munsif, Bulandshahr, for a decree for Rs. 782-3-6 being the "price of the bale" and Rs. 200 for loss on account of non delivery'. The railway administration resisted the claim on the pleas among others that the suit was not maintainable without an effective notice under S. 77 of the Railways Act and that the suit was barred because at the date of the institution of the suit, the period of limitation prescribed by Art. 31of the Limitation Act had expired. The trial court decreed the suit. In appeal, the Additional Civil Judge, Bulandshahr, reversed the decree passed by the trial court and dismissed the suit. A Full Bench of the High Court of Allahabad reversed the decree passed by the first appellate court and restored the decree of the trial court. With certificate of fitness under Art. 133 (1) (c) of the Constitution, this appeal has been preferred by the Union of India.

(2.) SECTION 77 of the Railways Act in so far as it is material provides:

(3.) SECTION 77 of the Railways Act is enacted with a view to enable the railway administration to make enquiries and if possible to recover the goods and to deliver them to the consignee and to prevent stale claims. It imposes a restriction on the enforcement of liability declared by S. 72 is for loss, destruction or deterioration. Failure to deliver is the consequence of loss or destruction of goods; it does not furnish a cause of action on which a suit may lie against the railway administration, distinct from a cause of action for loss or destruction. By the use of the expression," loss, destruction or deterioration", what is contemplated is loss or destruction or deterioration of the goods and the consequent loss to the owner thereof. If because of negligence or inadvertence or even wrongful act on the part of the employees of the railway administration, goods entrusted for carriage are lost, destroyed or deteriorated, the railway administration is guilty of failing to take the degree of care which is prescribed by S. 72 of the Railways Act.