SHAMJI BHANJI AND CO Vs. NORTH WESTERN RLYCO

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The plaintiffs are a partnership firm carrying on business as dealers in saltpetre, sulphur, chlorate of potash etc. On 22 May, 1942, they sold fifty cases of chlorate of potash to one Shahjada Abdul Hakim who was the proprietor of the Afghan Match Factory (Commercial) at Kabul at a price of Rs. 850 per case, Bardan, Mukadami and railway charges to be paid by the plaintiffs. The goods were to be supplied by the plaintiffs to Shahjada Abdul Hakim at Peshawar and the plaintiffs accordingly on 23 May 1942, entrusted the fifty cases of chlorate of potash to the B.B. & C.I. Railway at the Carnac Bridge Goods Depot for carriage to Peshawar City. Chlorate of potash has been classified in Red Tariff No. 15 which contains rules and rates for the conveyance by rail of explosives and other dangerous goods as dangerous, corrosive and poisonous goods, and it has been provided in the Red Tariff No. 15 that chlorate of potash should be packed in drums or in casks or cases lined with closely woven calico or paper of sufficient strength not to allow the contents to escape. When these fifty cases of chlorate of potash were entrusted by the plaintiffs to the B.B. & C.I. Railway they executed in favour of the railway a consignment note for dangerous, explosive and combustible articles as required by Rule 64 of the Red Tariff No. 15. On the railway staff being satisfied that the general packing regulations sot out in Red Tariff No. 15 were complied with and that the plaintiffs had executed the necessary consignment note in that behalf, the B.B. & C.I. Railway issued to the plaintiffs their railway receipt dated 23 May 1942, for the consignment of these fifty cases of chlorate of potash from Carnac Bridge to Peshawar City via New Delhi. The goods were consigned at railway risk and the plaintiffs paid an increased charge of Rs. 100 for the carriage of these goods from Carnac Bridge to Peshawar City paying an aggregate sum of Rs. 900-3-0 as and by way of freight.

(2.) The transaction had been negotiated by Shahjada Abdul Hakim with the plaintiffs through one Bhasin who was then carrying on business in Bombay in the name and style of the National Cotton Trading Company. The railway receipt was obtained by the plaintiffs as the consignors in favour of self as the consignees and was endorsed by the plaintiffs in favour of the National Cotton Trading Company with express instructions given by the plaintiffs to Bhasin that he should not part with the railway receipt in favour of Shahjada Abdul Hakim except against payment of the price of the goods by him. It appears that Bhasin in his turn endorsed the railway receipt in favour of Messrs. Sidhuram Ganesh Das, a firm of shroffs and commission agents, who were then carrying on business at Kalbadevi outside the Fort of Bombay. Messrs. Sidhuram Ganesh Das endorsed the railway receipt in favour of Shahjada Abdul Hakim, thus enabling Shahjada Abdul Hakim to obtain delivery of the goods when they arrived at Peshawar City. It appears, however, that the goods were transshipped at Muttra station near Delhi and were there delivered by the B.B. & C.I. Railway to the North Western Railway for being carried to Peshawar City, and whilst the wagon No. C.R. 1840 in which they were loaded was at the Bhatinda station yard, a station on the line of the North Western Railway, the said goods were destroyed by fire. This loss was discovered by Shahjada Abdul Hakim when he was informed by the railway authorities at Peshawar City about the same. He wrote a letter to the plaintiffs dated 17 June 1942, intimating to the plaintiffs that the goods had been destroyed by fire at Bhatinda station yard and that it was therefore necessary that the claim should be, lodged with the North Western Railway promptly for the same. This letter was addressed by Shahjada Abdul Hakim directly to the plaintiffs or sent by him to Bhasin for the purpose of delivery thereof to the plaintiffs; either way the plaintiffs called upon Bhasin either to get payment of the price of the goods or the railway receipt in respect of the same, and Bhasin handed over to the plaintiffs the railway receipt dated 23 May 1942. The railway receipt when it came into the possession of the plaintiffs bore a further endorsement on the face of it which was made by Shahjada Abdul Hakim in favour of the plaintiffs. The effect of all the endorsements made on the railway receipt was thus to constitute the plaintiffs who were the consignees of the railway receipt the ultimate endorsees of the same, thus entitled on the face of the railway receipt to obtain delivery of the goods represented by the same.

(3.) On 11 July 1942, the plaintiffs addressed a letter to the General Manager, North Western Railway, Lahore, authorising Bhasin to negotiate and settle their claim in respect of the goods and asking him to expedite the matter as a considerable amount of money was involved therein. On 23 July 1942, the plaintiffs addressed a letter to the General Traffic Manager, B.B. & C.I. Railway, stating that they were the consignors of the goods which had been destroyed by fire at Bhatinda, that they held the railway receipt in their possession and that the claim in respect of the goods should be payable to them. A reply was sent by the Chief Traffic Manager, B.B. & C.I. Railway, on 7 August 1942, stating that the Chief Commercial Manager, North Western Railway, Lahore, was the competent authority to deal with the matter and asking the plaintiffs to communicate direct with him. A similar letter appears to have been addressed by the plaintiffs to the General Manager, North Western Railway, Lahore, also. A reply was sent by the General Manager, North Western Railway, to the plaintiffs acknowledging receipt of that letter and stating that such action as might be called for would be taken and the plaintiffs would be addressed again on the subject. Though the letter itself bears no date, the postal mark from the station of despatch is dated 11th August 1942, and the postal mark showing the receipt of the letter in Bombay is dated 14th August 1942.