NARSINGGIRJI MANUFACTURING CO Vs. GREAT INDIAN PENINSULAR RAILWAY

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This appeal arises in Civil Suit No. 709 of 1914 in the Court of the first class Subordinate Judge at Sholapur. It is one of a number of suits resulting from the destruction of goods in the goods forwarding shed at Sholapur by a fire which took place on the 14th May 1913 at about 3 o clock in the afternoon.

(2.) The defendants are a company governed by the provisions of the Indian Railways Act of 1890.

(3.) Section 72 of that Act provides that their liability in respect of goods delivered to be carried shall be that of a bailee under Section 151 of the Indian Contract Act, and their liability as bailee in respect of such goods can only be limited by agreement with the consignor provided that such agreement has been approved by the Governor-General in Council. The expression "goods delivered to be carried" is taken from the English Carriers Act, and Section 72 is intended to indicate that the Railway Companies in this country shall not be liable to the extent of common carriers in England, but only as bailees under the Contract Act. The words "delivered to be carried" must, it seems to me, be read literally and according to their natural meaning in the same way as they have always been read in connection with cases arising under the English Carriers Act.