Railways Act, 1989 – s.66 – Power to require statement relating to the description of goods – Appellant raised demand notices alleging misdeclaration of goods, for consignments sent through the Railways – Respondents paid the demands raised but sought refund of the amount paid contending that the demand notices issued after the delivery of the goods were illegal – Claim allowed by Railway Tribunal – Appeals dismissed by High Court – Interference with:
Held: A consignee/owner of goods/person having charge of goods who has brought goods for the purpose of carriage has to give the Railway authorities a written statement regarding the description of the goods, to enable them to charge the appropriate rate of carriage – Under sub-sec.(4), if the statement is found to be materially false, the Railway authority is empowered to charge the goods at the required rate – No reference is made to the stage at which such a charge can be made, i.e., either before or after delivery – Thus, the legislative intent is to permit levy of charge under this Section, at either stage and not at a specific one – High Court erred in holding that penal charges can only be applied prior to the delivery of goods – Impugned order set aside – Railway Claims Tribunal Act, 1987. [Paras 14, 18, 20]
As published in the Supreme Court Reports, Supreme Court of India. Headnotes prepared by: Divya Pandey. Text from the Indian Supreme Court Judgments open data set (Dattam Labs), CC BY 4.0.
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