JUDGMENT

1. This is an appeal by the plaintiffs in the original suit, who sought the recovery of the value of goods lost, the amount of a certain overcharge alleged to have been paid and damages against the respondent G.I.P. Railway Company.

2. The suit was dismissed by the lower appellate Court on the sole ground that no notice, as required by Section 77 of the Indian Railways Act, was given by the plaintiffs.

3. The facts involved are briefly these:

4. On the 26th of January 1920 the plaintiffs' agent, who was impleaded as the Defendant No. 2, and against whom no relief was claimed, despatched 58 bags of raw sugar, 32 bags of wheat and 11 bags of refined sugar to the plaintiffs in the district of Banda. The consignment was sent from Hapur. Strange though it may sound, it is a fact, that the goods did not reach their destination till the 29th of October 1920. On this date it was discovered that the consignment was short by 17 bags made up of different kinds of the commodity. The plaintiffs gave notice to the railway administration on 13th January 1921 and instituted the suit on the 13th of August 1921. The question is whether the notice was a good one.

5. u/s 77 of the Railways Act a n