Silva V. Attorney General

1951 Present: Dias S.P.J. and Gunasekara J.

 SILVA, Appellant, and THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL, Respondent

S. C. 301-D. C. Colombo, 18,416 M

Contract-Crown-Liability of Attorney-General for contracts of public servants- Customs Ordinance (Cap. 185), ss. 17, 22,' 1088-150-Sale of Service goods for non-payment of warehouse rent-Validity., of such sale-Non-delivery to purchaser-Purchaser's Remedy is against Attorney-General and "not against Principal Collector.

Goods belonging to the Forces, although they are exempted from import duty by virtue of section 22 of the Customs Ordinance, are chargeable with warehouse rent, and are liable, under section 108, to be sold by the Principal Collector for non-payment of warehouse rent.

Where the Principal Collector of Customs enters into a contract of sale under section 108 of the Customs Ordinance, he is an agent of the Crown and the Crown will be liable for a breach of such contract, whether the Collector acted under statutory powers or on the express orders of Government. Where a public officer enters into a contract in the bona fide exercise of the powers of his office, any action in regard to such act must be against the Attorney-General as representing the Crown, and not against the public officer personally. Sections 148-150 of the Customs Ordinance do not lay down substantive law and do not create any rights of action against a. Customs officer

APPEAL from a judgment of the District Court, Colombo.

During the Second World War certain Service goods which had been brought into Ceylon free of Customs duty were sold under section 108 of the Customs Ordinance for non-payment of warehouse rent., The plaintiff bought the goods at the sale for Rs. 1,068, but when he tried to take delivery he was prevented from so doing on the ground that subsequent to the sale the Services Disposals Board, which was a local branch of the Ministry of Supply of the Imperial Government, had sold the goods to a third party. The plaintiff thereupon sued the Attorney-General of Ceylon, as representing the Crown in Ceylon, claiming Rs. 40,000 as damages for breach of contract.

H. V. Perera, K.C., with G. T. Samarowickreme and G. L. L. de Silva, for the plaintiff appellant.

H. W. R. Weerasooriya, Acting Solicitor-General, with Walter Jayawardene, Crown Counsel, for the defendant respondent.

Cur. adv. vult.

 May 31, 1951. DIAS S.P.J.-

During the Second World War when Ceylon became a theatre of operations and eventually the headquarters of the South East Asia Command, large quantities of Service goods from overseas were brought into the Island and for lack of space -were dumped in various parts of the country, including the Customs premises in Colombo. Amongst

these goods were about 11,000 tons of steel plates of assorted sizes. This action relates to a part of those goods, estimated as being about 250 or 272 tons.

After the cessation of hostilities, the Colombo Customs authorities required the space occupied by these Service goods which had been imported into the Island free of customs duty-see s. 22 of the Customs Ordinance (Chapter 185). S'. 17 of the Customs Ordinance and the regulations made thereunder (see Volume 3 of the Subsidiary Legislation of Ceylon, pages 151 to 157) provide for the levying of warehouse rent in respect of " all goods "irrespective of whether they are public or private property. It was conceded by the learned acting Solicitor-General at the argument that these steel plates even though exempted for import or export duty would, nevertheless, be liable to warehouse rent. S, 108 of the Customs Ordinance empowers and authorizes the Principal Collector of Customs after public advertisement to sell goods which are lying in the customs premises for a period longer than three months in respect of which warehouse rent is due.

The evidence shows that so far back as 1944 the Principal Collector of Customs was inconv

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