JUDGMENT

Dr. D.Y. CHANDRACHUD, J

1. Leave granted.

2 These proceedings have arisen from a judgment dated 27 September 2011 of a Division Bench of the Kerala High Court in a batch of writ appeals and original petitions, preferred by various shipping agents.

3. The question before the High Court was whether the liability to pay ‘ground rent’ on containers unloaded at Cochin Port, but not cleared by the consignees/importers and refused to be de-stuffed by the Port, on the ground of inadequate storage space, can be imposed on the owners of the vessel/steamer agents beyond the period of 75 days, fixed by the Tariff Authority of Major Ports [TAMP], a statutory body constituted under Section 47A of the Major Port Trust Act [MPT Act], 1963.

4. The facts of the case are summarized in the following extract of the judgment of the High Court:

“The sequence of events that led to the stalemate refers to the incidents which happened in 1998 when there (sic) imports synthetic woollen rags (in containers) in the Cochin Port Trust premises. The said containers were destuffed to facilitate Customs examination and to return the empty containers to the Steamer Agents. The destuffed cargo occupied much larger space and was not promptly cleared by the consignees in view of the hurdles placed by the Customs stating that the cargo actually did not constitute old woollen rags as declared, but mostly were brand new clothes which could not have been cleared. The ‘modus operandi’ of the consignees/importers attracted wide attention of all concerned and taking note of the probable extent of liability to be imposed by the Customs Department, and the liability to be satisfied to the Port and others concerned, the consignees did not turn up to clear the goods and they were lying idle in the Port premises for quite long.”

The Port Trust charged ‘ground rent’ from the Steamer Agents/owners of the containers.

5. The case revolves around the interpretation of the provisions of the MPT Act. The Act makes provision for the constitution of port authorities in whom it vests administrative control and management of ports. Section 3 authorises the Central Government to constitute a Board of Trustees (“Board” and “Port Trust authority” have been used interchangeably) in respect of any major port. Under Section 5, every Board is to be a body corporate. Section 35 empowers the Board to execute works within or without the limits of the port and provide any such appliances for the port as it “may deem necessary or expedient”. Section 43 places responsibility on a Board for the loss, destruction or deterioration of goods of which it has taken charge.

6. Section 2(o) defines an "owner", in relation to goods, to include “any consignor, consignee, shipper or agent for the sale, custody, loading or unloading of such goods”; and in relation to any vessel or any aircraft making use of any port, to include “any part-owner, charterer, consignee, or mortgagee in possession thereof”. Section 42 authorises the Board to undertake certain services. Sub-section (2) of Section 42 provides that a Board may, if requested by the owner of the goods, take charge of the goods for the purpose of performing services. Section 42(7) provides that after goods have been taken charge of and a receipt given for them under the Section, no liability for any loss or damage which may occur to them shall attach to any person to whom a receipt has been given or to the master or owner of the vessel from which the goods have been landed or transhipped.

Chapter VI of the Act provides for imposition and recovery of rates at ports. The right to prescribe the scale of rates for services performed by the Board or other persons and to prescribe the statement of conditions under which the premises of the Board can be used, was vested earlier, mainly under Sections 48 and 49, with the Board of Trustees of the Port. Later, with an amendment of the Act in 1997, Section 47A was inserted by which TAMP was created. The powe