V P DESA Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS first appeal has been filed against the judgment and decree passed in civil suit No. 22b of 1948 by the Additional District Judge Jabalpur dismissing the claim of the plaintiff-appellant, V. P. Desa.

(2.) THE plaintiff's case was that he had booked his motor car on 12-9-1947 at quetta with the North Western Railway to be carried to Jabalpur and that the car was lost in transit. He claimed a sum of Rs. 6,000 as its value from the Union of india, defendant No. 1, as representing the Railways. The car was insured with the national Fire and General Insurance Co. , Ltd. , Calcutta, defendant No. 2, and hence the Insurance Co. , was also sought to be made liable for the claim. The plaintiff stated that he could maintain the suit at Jabalpur as he was displaced person within the meaning of the Displaced Persons (Institution of Suits) Act,

(3.) THE Union of India stated that the North Western Railway with which the consignment was stated to have been booked, was in the Dominion of Pakistan, and as the consignment was never handed over to the Indian Railways, no liability was incurred by them in respect of its loss. It was further stated that the car in question was lying at Karachi for want of the requisite export permit.