Judgment

SUBBA RAO, J. : These two appeals by certificates are filed against the judgment and decree of the High Court of Madhya Pradesh, Jabalpur, by the two defendants in Civil Suit No. 1 of 1957, a Suit filed by the Union of India, owning and representing the Central and Western Railways Administrations, New Delhi, against the said defendant, for the recovery of coal cess amounting to Rs. 81-4-0 and costs.

2. The material facts may be briefly stated. Under Ordinance No. 39 of 1944, the Central Government was authorized to levy and collect as a cess on all coal and coke despatched from collieries in British India a duty of excise at such rate, not exceeding Rs. 1-4-0 per ton. In exercise of the power conferred on the Central Government under S. 5 of the Ordinance, the said Government made rules; and under R. 3 thereof, the duty of excise imposed under the Ordinance on coal and coke shall, when such coal and coke is despatched by rail from collieries or coke plants, be collected by the Railway Administration by means of a surcharge on freight, and such duty of excise shall be recovered either from the consignor or the cosignee, as the case may be. On January 1, 1947, February 1, 194