The endorsement of a Railway Receipt is not a part of the cause of action for a suit against the Railway for damages for loss or damage to goods.

( 1 ) THE petitioner in this case is the plaintiff who filed a suit to recover a sum of Rs. 1. 300. 00. being the value of goods damaged and short delivered. The plaintiff alleged that he booked a consignment of 200 bags of gram-dall under Invoice No. 20 dt. 16/07/1958 from Sirs! on the Northern Railway for delivery at Pendurti on the South Eastern Railway. The Railway Receipt was endorsed by the consignor in favour of the plaintiff at Kakinada for valuable consideration. The petitioner alleges that on account of negligence and misconduct of the Railway administration the consignment was damaged and became unfit for human consumption. On the application made for open delivery the Railway authorities examined and assessed the damage, and the shrot delivery of the stock. The plaintiff therefore sued the Railway, in this case the Union of India, for compensation and damages. The defendant resisted the suit on the ground firstly, that the court had no jurisdiction and secondly, that the suit claim was excessive. The lower court considered the question of jurisdiction of the court as a preliminary issue and disposed of the case by holding that the court had no jurisdiction to entertain the suit and directed the plaint to be presented to the proper court. It is this order that is challenged in the revision petition.

( 2 ) IT is urged on behalf of the learned counsel for the petitioner that the endorsement of the Railway receipt in favour of the plaintiff being part of the cause of action would entitle him to sue at the place where the endorsement took place. This is urged on the analogy of the right to sue at the place where a negotiable instrument is endorsed which would be a part of the cause of action, and for this purpose the learned counsel invited my attention to a decision of the Calcutta High Court in Alliance Assurance Company v. Union of India AIR 1959 Cal 563. In this case, no doubt, the learned Judge observed"where a suit is filed by the assignee of the right, title and interest of the assignor in the goods despatched by Railways and where the Railway Receipt is transferred to the assignee, such assignment is a part of the cause of action and the court! within whose jurisdiction the assignment took place was competent to entertain and try the suit. "in coming to this conclusion the learned Judge relied upon the fact that the principle that an endorsement would constitute a part of the cause of action and would apply only to a negotiable instrument was not correct. According to the learned Judge it was not restricted to endorsements of negotiable Instruments. Even in cases of assignment of a debt where there was no question of negotiability, the assignment had been regarded as furnishing a cause of action. This case was subsequently considered in a later decision of the Calcutta High Court in Fushraj Thanmull v. Union of India, AIR 1960 Cal 458, Hero also the question arose as to the effect of the endorsement of a Railway Receipt by the consignor in favour of the plaintiff. In considering the position the learned Judge A. N. Ray, J. adverted to the previous decision of the Calcutta High Court already referred to and stated that on the facts of that particular case, Mukherji, J. , took the view that it would furnish a cause of action. In order to determine as to whether the endorsement of a Railway Receipt would furnish cause of action In a suit as against the Railway it is necessary to consider as to what allegations or what circumstances would entitle the consignor or. his assignee to file a suit against the Railway for damages. When the plaintiff files a suit in such a case, he fcas to allege and establish that the goods were entrusted to the Railway for carriage under a contract between himself and the Railway with respect to Hie delivery of the goods at the destination and further fact has also to be alleged that there had been a breach of the contract by reason of the goods not waving been delivered or