TMI Blog1988 (4) TMI 104X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... loss of Rs. 10,97,817 which was later revised upwards to Rs. 11,04,421. 2. While scrutinising the various claims made by the assessee for deduction from the gross receipts for the year under consideration, he noted that the assessee had made claim of Rs. 11,56,106 on account of accident to a truck belonging to the assessee bearing No. RSY 6367. One of the sister concerns of the assessee-company namely M/s. Green Roadways Ltd. and hired the aforesaid truck of the assessee for carrying the goods of its customers which it had booked inGujarat. The said truck met with an accident and was completely gutted along with the goods kept therein. The parties who had booked their goods through M/s. Green Roadways Ltd. and which were being carried by ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... g to the assessee's learned counsel, the assessee's case was governed by The Carriers Act, 1865, that the assessee was a common carrier inasmuch as it was engaged in carriage and transport of goods as a business from place to place and that, therefore, u/s 6 of the aforementioned Act, the liability of the assessee as a common carrier arose as soon as the loss in question of the property delivered to him was caused and this liability being statutory liability, could not be postponed to a later year merely because its quantification was postponed. 6. In support of it, the learned counsel placed reliance on the legal opinion of Nasaud Mirza placed in the paper book at pages 39 to 44. According to the said opinion, it was not only the owners ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... m for transport and that the liability of the carrier could not be limited by a special contract if the person contracting with the carrier was not authorised by the owner of the goods to enter into such contracts. Our attention was also invited by the learned counsel for the assessee to some other authorities placed at page 21 of the paper book, in support of his plea that the liability of the common carrier was absolute and statutory and that, therefore, as soon as the loss took place the claim against the carrier accrued and arose and it should be allowed in that very year. 7. On behalf of the revenue, the above plea was resisted and reliance was placed on the order of the CIT(A). It was urged by the learned DR that the assessee's liab ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ectly or indirectly results in any loss to consignments and the vehicle itself cannot be termed act of God inasmuch as this is a term of art and has specific connotation in law. There is nothing, in the circumstances, therefore, which would absolve the first party of its liability to compensate the second party for the injury caused and I hold accordingly. " On the basis of the aforesaid observations of the arbitrator, it is urged by the learned DR that the liability of the assessee in the present case is contractual and not statutory and it arose under the Indian Contract Act and not under the Carriers Act, 1865 and that, therefore, the liability to pay the compensation did not accrue or arise against the assessee-company in the year und ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... handed over to the representative of the firm." This clause only clarifies that, the provisions of the Carriers Act, 1865, would continue to apply, despite the contract between the parties, and, so, where the owner is putting in the claim or where the owners could show that they had authorised M/s. Green Roadways Ltd. to contract on their behalf for the carriage of their goods with the assessee-company, the assessee would not be able to deny their claims on the basis of this agreement. But no evidence has been placed on record by the assessee-company to show that M/s. Green Roadways Ltd. was authorized by the owners to contract for the carriage of their goods on their behalf with the assessee-company. The Green Roadways is, thus, not the a ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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