Das, J.

1. This is an application under Sec.25, Provincial Small Cause Courts Act.

The facts so far as they are relevant at the present stage are not seriously in dispute and may be stated very briefly. The petitioners were the plaintiffs. A consignment of 200 bags of sugar was booked from a station called Bagaha on the railway section, known then as the O. T. Railway for another station called Katrasgarh on the E. I. Railway section on 23-3-1950 under railway receipt No. 61756. When the consignment reached Katrasgarh, 8 bags of sugar were found out and damaged. Those 8 bags were reweighed and there was a shortage of 11 maunds and 1 seer of sugar. The petitioners took delivery of the 200 bags of sugar on 5-4-1950 under a qualified receipt.

Thereafter, the petitioners wrote to the Chief Commercial Manager, East Indian Railway, in Calcutta and received a reply dated 8-6-1950. In this reply, the Chief Commercial Manager stated that as there was no proof of misconduct on the part of the railway administration or its servants, he was unable to accept liability for the shortage and he further expressed inability to entertain any claim to compensation.

The petitioners then served