The Railway administration is liable for the loss of goods in transit unless they can prove that the loss was due to an Act of God, an Act of the King's enemies, or the inherent vice of the goods.

NARASIMHAM, C. J.

( 1 ) THIS is an appeal from the judgment of the Second Additional Subordinate judge, Cuttack, decreeing the respondent-plaintiff's suit for recovery of the price of certain goods that were lost in trans-sit while in the custody of the Railway administration.

( 2 ) TWENTY bales of cotton yarn booked from Ambasamudram in the Southern railway, for the respondent on 28-11-52, for delivery at Cuttack railway station under R/r No. 60/5 and Invoice No. 8 of that date. When the consignment reached Cuttack it was found that six bales were completely missing and some of the remaining bales appeared to have been tampered with and re-sewn to a size smaller than that of the other bales. The respondent therefore took open delivery on 9-1-53 and note about the missing of six bales and short delivery of some of the remaining bales was made by the Station Master Cuttack Railway Station. The respondent, therefore, claimed damages from the Railway Administration basing his claim on the price of the missing bales of yarn and including therein the freight paid and also his profit at 71/2 per cent. His total claim came to Rs. 8907-12-0.

( 3 ) THE main defence of the Railway Admini stration was two fold. Firstly it was urged that the consignment was damaged and some of the bales were looted by a riotous mob at Bezwada Railway Station on 16-12-52 on account of a civil commotion arising out of the death of Potti Sriramulu the well-known Andhra leader. It was therefore urged that the Railway Administration was completely absolved from liability. Secondly, it was urged that the plaintiff was not entitled to damages for loss of profits as no notice of such profits was given to the Railway administration at the time of delivery of the goods at Ambasamudram Railway station for consignment to Cuttack Railway Station.

( 4 ) A Court can take judicial notice of the fact that in connection with the formation of Andhra Province Potti Sriramulu fasted and eventually died in Madras in consequence of which there were riots and disturbances in several parts of Andhra territory. There is the evidence of the Subedar of the Railway Protection Force at bezwada to show that Bezwada railway station was looted by a riotous mob of about 30,000 persons at about 9 a. m. on 16-12-52 and that the mob raided and looted away articles from the Railway parcel office and from Railway Wagons standing in the station yard and also in the tranship shed. Though the District magistrate and the District Superintendent of Police were in the Railway Station they were unable to prevent the looting of goods by the mob. But the railway administration can escape liability only if they can show that the missing bales and the missing bundles (out of the remaining bales) were lost in the course of the said riots and not due to misconduct on the part of the railway staff. For this purpose, the railway has relied on the evidence of some of the members of the station staff at Bezwada on the crucial dates. But as rightly pointed out by the lower Court their evidence is not decisive on this point. Thus D. W. 2 ramachandran stated that wagon No. EICG 2433 (in which the consignment was admittedly loaded) arrived at Bezwada Railway Station on 13-12-52 in good condition with the seals and rivets intact, from Arkonam. Another Railway servant named Avadhanulu (D. W. 3) opened the wagon on 14-12-52, unloaded 20 bales of cotton yarn booked from Ambasamudram to Cuttack, re-loaded the same in the said wagon along with some other articles and tape-sealed the wagon for onward despatch. According to this witness this wagon was kept at Bezwada Tranship shed. The evidence of Subedar of the Railway Protection Forc--to which I have already referred--undoubtedly shows that the riotous mob looted the articles from the wagons standing not only in the station yard but also in the Tranship shed in bezwada Railway Station. But this witness also admitted that the mob, after looting, left several articles