UNION OF INDIA Vs. TROSTBRUCKS 1

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is an application (it reads more like a memo of appeal than an application) under Article 133 (1) (a) (b) of the Constitution of India for grant of certificate appeal to the Supreme Court against the judgment and decree of this Court in First Civil Appeal No. 27/71.

(2.) The question involved in the appeal relates to the legal effect of a saving clause in a Bill of Lading. It also involves the interpretation of clause 8 of Article III of Hague Rules and the Carriage of Goods by Sea Act, 1925. Learned counsel for the opponents/respondents admitted that he is not aware of any decision of the Supreme Court as regards the liability of a ship owner under a Bill of Lading which contains an endorsement "weight, measure, value . . . . unknown"

(3.) The effect of such an endorsement on the liability of the ship owner has been considered in various judgments, the latest being K. Assainar V/s. Malabar Steamship Co., 1975 AIR(Ker) 114. This shows that the case involves a substantive question of law of general importance and in the opinion of this Court the question needs to be decided by the Supreme Court.