EAST INDIAN RAILWAY COMPANY Vs. SRI RAM MAHADEO

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is an application in revision arising out of a Small Cause Court matter. The plaintiff was the consignee of 126 bags, which were loaded at Kidderpur station, and were despatched to Cawnpore. The waggon admittedly arrived at Cawnpore on the 27 of December 1921 and the seals on the waggon were found intact. As the Railway Company had many other waggons to unload, this waggon was put on a siding and remained there for two days. On the 29 of December it was reported that the seals on one side of the waggon were broken. When the contents were checked it was discovered that six bags were missing. After a lengthy correspondence, which came to nothing, the plaintiff instituted the present suit to recover damages for the loss of the bags.

(2.) The Railway Company took several pleas in defence, but three main issues were framed by the Trial Court. The first was whether the Risk Note absolved the defendant Company of all liability or not. The second was whether the goods were stolen at Cawnpore yard and whether the Risk Note (Form B) applied and whether the defendant Company was guilty of wilful negligence or not. And the third was to what money the plaintiff was entitled.

(3.) The learned Judge of the Small Cause Court found these issues in favour of the plaintiff and granted him a decree. The defendant Company has come up in revision, and on its behalf it is urged that the findings of the lower Court are quite insufficient, and further that the burden lay on the plaintiff to prove that there was either a wilful neglect of the Company or theft by or on account of the wilful neglect of its servants.