HAJEE HUSSAN Vs. GREAT EASTERN SHIPPING CO LTD

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE plaintiffs in O. S. No. 159 of 1952 of the District court of Anjikaimal, Ernakulam, are the appellants before us. THE suit was for the recovery of the value of one bale of cloth short delivered by the defendant, the Great Eastern Shipping Company Limited, Bombay.

(2.) THE bale short delivered was one of sixty-one bales shipped by S. S. JAG GANGA from Bombay to Cochin. THE bill of lading is ext. A dated 26-7-1951.

(3.) THE contention on behalf of the appellants is that the provision has to be interpreted in the light of Article IX of the Schedule which is in the following terms: "the monetary units mentioned in these Rules are to be taken to be gold value. " As pointed out by Scrutton: "the construction of this Article is difficult, THE only reference to a monetary unit in the Rules is contained in Art. IV, R. S, where reference is made to a maximum liability of '100. ' If any effect is to be given to the present Article, it would seem that '100' must be construed as t100 gold', that is to say, the current market value [presumably at the date of breach] of the gold content of a hundred sovereigns of the weight and fineness specified under the Coinage Act 1870. In as much as Art, IV, R. 5 deals with the measure of the carrier's liability and not with the mode of discharging that liability, this is probably the construction which would be adopted by the english Courts" [charterparties and Bills of Lading, 16th Edition, Page 496]. Carver says that the construction of the Article is "very difficult", and that where it is necessary to compute the equivalent of 100 in a currency other than that of the United Kingdom as in the case before us - the courts of this country can give judgment only in terms of Indian currency - Article IX "clearly requires the amount of the foreign currency which would be equal in value to 100 gold sovereigns to be computed. " (Carriage of Goods by sea, 9th Edition, Page 205 ).