About the facts of the case there is no material dispute. The controversy concerns the law applicable to the facts. The question is one of liability of a public carrier who carried goods and lost them due to circumstances beyond his control.

2. Mainly two questions arise and those are:

(i) Is the defendant a common carrier?

(ii) Can the destructive acts of an unruly mob be characterised as act of God?

3. Now the facts. On 8-11-1964 the plaintiff purchased 18 bags of green gram at Kottar in the Kaniyakumari District of the Madras State and booked it with the defendant for transportation to Quilon in one of his lorries. The defendant was running a lorry service under the name "R. R. N. Lorry Service." The goods were received by the defendant for transport to Quilon on 8-7-1964. But the goods were not delivered at Quilon as agreed upon. The suit was therefore filed for realisation of the price of the goods and interest thereon. The defence was that while the goods were being transported to Quilon the lorry was waylaid by a jatha at a place 11/2 miles to the east of Quilon and the unruly mob which formed the jatha robbed the goods.

It appears that the jatha was being taken out as