SHIVLAL MULCHAND SHAH Vs. MANEKJI MANCHERJI BOTTLEWALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is an appeal by the plaintiff-appellant against the judgment of the learned Judge in so far as the quantum of damages is concerned. The decision of the learned Judge that the defendant committed a breach of the suit contract, Ex. A1, on September 23, 1925, by which the plaintiff was constituted the sole selling agent in the whole of India and Africa for the sale of the defendant's til oil, is not disputed. I draw particular attention to that because we start on this basis that there was a breach of contract by the defendant of that contract, and further that the defendant varied his contract initially in July 1926, when he wrongfully put up the price of his til oil with a view to cause an abnormal decrease in the sales, and thereby to enable himself to put an end to the contract under Clause 8 which provided" that the agency was "to continue for all time except in case of there being abnormal decrease in sales or in case of fraud on my part or by mutual consent in writing". So, too, the subsequent repudiation by the defendant on February 9, 1927, of the suit contract on the ground that there had been an abnormal decrease in sale was also a clear breach of contract by the defendant.

(2.) The learned Judge has awarded damages for two periods, viz., (a) from July 1, 1926, to February 9, 1927, and (b) from February 9,1927, to December 22,1927, when Mahomedalli the mortgagee took possession of the defendant's factory, and the defendant's business came to an end. In fact the whole factory was sold by the mortgagee with the consent of the defendant on January 19, 1928.

(3.) I may now state how the points as to the quantum of damages arise. The main point argued by the learned Advocate General for the appellant was this. He submitted that on the true construction of the contract and in particular of Clause 8 there was an implied term that the agency should continue during the joint lives of the parties, and that accordingly damages ought to be calculated not for a mere period ending in December 1927, but for a period commensurate with the expectation of the lives of these two parties.