JUDGMENT

Mookerjee, J. - This Rule raises an important question of law about the liability of a Railway Company to pay compensation for loss of goods or damage caused to them, while in their custody, though the claim is not put forward by the consignee till after he has taken delivery and granted "a clear receipt." The circumstances, under which the question requires consideration, may be briefly narrated as found by the Small Cause Court Judge. On the 7th October, 1910, the opposite party tendered to the East Indian Railway Company at Delhi four bales of cloth for despatch to Buxar. The goods arrived at Buxar on the 14th October; the consignee took delivery of the bales which were apparently in good condition, and granted a simple receipt. On the 5th December, 1910, another bale was delivered to the Company at Delhi for carriage to Buxar, and duly carried there in apparent good condition. The consignee took delivery on the 14th December, and granted receipt as before. He subsequently reported to the Company that some pieces of cloth were missing from the bales; the Company refused to entertain the claim, whereupon, on the 7th March, 1911, the consignee instituted this suit in the C