The liability of the Railway Administrations as a bailee is limited to the period of transit or carriage of the goods with the addition of a reasonable period of time for loading the goods and a reasonable period of time (namely, twenty-four hours) which is to be given to the consignee to take delivery, and does not extend to any period beyond this time.

K.Dayal, J.

1. This appeal is by the plaintiff-firm. It arises out of a suit for recovery of damages against Union of India representing the North-eastern Railway and the Eastern Railway.

2. The case of the plaintiff-firm, shortly stated, is that on the 6th November 1954, they had booked 178 bags of resultant atta from Darbhanga Railway Station for Howrah. The consignment reached. Howrah on the 14th November 1954, when the plaintiff-firm presented the railway receipt before the Goods Accountant at. Howrah and demanded the delivery of the consignment. They were, however, told to get the railway receipt countersigned by the Director of Procurement and Supply, Government of West Bengal, Calcutta, otherwise the delivery could not be given. Then it is alleged, they approached the Director of Procurement and Supply in the matter, but their attempts failed. On the 2n3 April 1955, however, the said Director informed them by wire that the ban on the movement of wheat products had been lifted. They did not take delivery as the goods had become unfit for human consumption, and, after serving usual notices on the Railway Administrations, they instituted the present suit on the 22nd September 1955, alleging that the commodity in question had deteriorated due to the negligence of the Railway Administration causing loss to them.

3. The defence, amongst other, was that the atta in question was inherently bad and that the same had lost its quality due to the plaintiff-firm not taking delivery at the proper time, and that there was no negligence on the part of the Railway Administrations.

4. The Court below, on a full and fair consideration of the evidence, has held that there was no negligence on the part of the Railway Administrations in taking proper care of the atta in question. It has, further, held :

"The plaintiff should have taken the delivery as required under the rules of the Railways, and then, if he was entitled to claim compensation under the law he could have done so. But in the circumstances of the case the plaintiff cannot claim any compensation from the Railways. I, therefore, find that the Railways, namely the defendant, are not liable for compensation in this case. The suit of the plaintiff, therefore, for such compensation is misconceived. The plaintiff is not entitled to any relief."

The plaintiff-firm, being thus aggrieved, have preferred this appeal.

5 Learned Counsel, in support of this appeal, has urged that under Section 72 of the Railways Act, the responsibility of the Railway Administrations was that of a bailee under Sections 151 and 152 of the Contract Act. In this view, he has submitted that the Railway Administrations were liable for the loss due to the deterioration of the goods in question. In support of his contention, he has relied on Union of India V/s. Serajuddin, AIR 1953 Pat 206. This case is clearly distinguishable.

There, the Railway Administration had kept the goods (cases of cigarettes) absolutely to the winds in the months of the monsoon. That is not the position in the instant case. In this case, the goods were consigned much after the monsoon, namely, in the month of November, and the same reached the destination in a very reasonable time in November and it was kept on the platform at Howrah Junction under the tin roof.

6. Besides, the Railway Administrations in the present case could not be held liable as a bailee. In Lalji Raja and Sons V/s. Governor-General of India, 54 Cal WN 902, their Lordships of the Calcutta High Court have held :

The liability of the Railway Company as bailee is limited to the period of transit or carriage of the goods with the addition of a reasonable period of time for loading the goods and a reasonable period of time (namely, twenty-four hours) which is to be given to the consignee to take delivery, and does not extend to any period beyond this time."

Hence it has to be held that the liability of the Railway Administrations as a bailee ceased by the 16th Novembe