Appeal No 342 of 1972
Appeal by special leave from the judgment and order dated the 16th September 1972 of the High Court of Bombay in Civil Revision No 263 of 1967
F section Nariman Additional Solicitor General of India P C Bhartari B R Zaiwala and B section Bhesania for the appellant
Anil B Divan K section Cooper Vasant C Kotwal section C Agarwal and P D Sharma for the respondents
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by KRISHNA IYER J
A small cause involving a petty claim of Rs 114742 has sailed slowly into the Supreme Court by special leave
Both sides The Bombay Port Trust appellant and the New Great Insurance Co a nationalised institution the contesting respondent agree before us that while there is only a short point of law in the case a large section of the business community as well as the Port Trust are affected by the ambiguity of the legal situation and an early pronouncement by this Court on the law of limitation applicable to consignee s actions for short delivery by the Port Trust is necessary
Is the period so brief as six months in terms of section 87 of the Bombay Port Trust Act 1879 hereinafter called the Act and if so does time begin to run within around a week of the landing of the goods suggested by section 6lA of the Act  Or alternatively does the longer spell allowed by the avail the plaintiff and the terminus a quo start only when the owner has been finally refused delivery  Although the Court in this case is enquiring whether the little delay alleged legally disentitles the plaintiff to claim the value of the lost goods it is a bathetic sidelight that the judicial process has limped along for 15 years to decide in this small single point commercial cause whether a little over seven months to come to court was too late
Pope Paul in opening the judicial year of the Second Roman Rota pontificated that delay in dispensing justice is in itself an act of injustice 
Systemic slow motion in this area must claim the nation s 399 immediate attention towards basic reformation of the traditional structure and procedure if the Indian Judicature is to sustain the litigative credibility of the community
Indeed even about British Justice Lord Devlin s observations serve as warning for our court system  If our business
methods were as antiquated as our legal methods we would be a bankrupt country
 The problem that falls for resolution by this Court turns on the subtle semantics alternatively spun by counsel on both sides out of the words any thing done or purporting to have been done in pursuance of this Act 
after six months from
the accrual of the cause of such suit
True to Anglo Indian forensic tradition a profusion of precedential erudition has been placed for our consideration in the able submissions of the learned advocates on both sides
Intricacy and refinement have marked the arguments and meticulous judicial attention is necessitated to discover from the tangled skein of case law the pertinent principle that accords with the intendment of the statute the language used the commonsense and justice of the situation
A relevant diary of facts and dates will help focus attention on the primary legal question
The first plaintiff became entitled to claim a consignment of 53 bundles of mild steel plates despatched by a Japanese exporter to be delivered at the port of Bombay
The goods were discharged in the docks into the custody of the
Bombay Port Trust the defendant and now the appellant on September 12 1959
The goods had been insured and the second plaintiff is the insurer
Within a week that is on September 191959 delivery of the goods was applied for and was given but of only 52 bundles
A week thereafter the first plaintiff demanded the missing bundle but was tenta lisingly put off from time to time by the defendant by letters of September 29 October 10 and December 4 1959 assuring that a search was in progress to trace the goods
It is important at this stage to notice that the plaintiff s letter of September 26 1959 sought information regarding the whereabouts of the above bundle so as to enable us to clear the same at an early date
The broad implication is that at that time the first plaintiff had
no idea where the missing bundle was in the vessel or the port
It is not unreasonable to infer that he did not then know for sure whether the undelivered item had been landed from the ship at all
None of the three letters by the defendant stated firmly that it had been discharged into the port and it is quite on the cards that part of the total consignment had not been discharged into the port in these any thing may happen days of expect the unexpected
Significantly  the first plaintiff inquired of the Indian Maritime Enterprises the agents of the Japanese vessel whether the entire consignment of 53 bundles bad been duly landed
The reply received by the first plaintiff is meaningful in that the Indian Maritime Enterprises in there letter dated November 7 1959 told the first plaintiff that all the 53 bundles had been duly unloaded
It inevitably follows that the earliest date when we can attribute to the plaintiff clear knowledge of the port authorities having come into possession of the missing bundle was November 7 1959
of course 400 the inquiry Section of the Alexandra Dock of the defendant indifferently informed the first plaintiff even on December 4 1959 that the missing bundle was still under search and a definite reply regarding the out turn of that item could be given only later when loading sheets were fully checked
However the first plaintiff by letter dated December 5 1959 wrote to the port authorities that he had been informed by the agents of the vessel The Indian Maritime Enterprises that the entire 53 bundles had been landed and desired to please let us know immediately whether the bundle has been landed if landed let the information regarding the whereabouts and if not kindly confirm the short landings
Apparently this was to make assurance doubly sure which could be gained only when the defendant s officials also confirmed it
Counsel for the plaintiffs with sweet reasonableness urges that the interested ipse dixit of the agents of the vessel may not by itself be sufficient to impute clear knowledge of the discharge from the ship into the port of goods of which the Port Trust dis claimed knowledge of whereabouts
Long later on January 22 1960 the Port Trust informed the first plaintiff that the bundle under reference had been out turned as landed but missing
Within a week thereafter the first plaintiff asked for a non delivery certificate so that he could claim from the insurers the value of the article lost
Such a certificate was issued on March 1 1960 and on May 12 1960 a statutory notice under section 87 of the Act was issued followed on June 18 1960 by the suit for the missing bundle or its value by way of damages
The deadly defence put forward by the defendant and reiterated before us with great plausibility was that the suit being governed by section 87 of the Act and the cause of action having been born on and limitation commenced to run from around September 19 1959 the claim was stale being well beyond six months and the statutory notice of a month super added
The second plaintiff insurer having paid the value of the lost articles to the first plaintiff got itself subrogated to the latter s right and they together laid the suit before the Court of Small Causes
That Court held on the merits that the defendant had been negligent in bestowing the basic care which as statutory bailee it was bound to take and on the preliminary plea of bar of limitation repelled it taking the view that non delivery of a consignment could not attract the shorter period prescribed in section 87 of the Act
The decrees passed was however set aside by the Full Court in appeal which held the claim to fall within the ambit of the lesser limitation laid down by the Act and so beyond time
The teetering course of the case brought success to the plaintiffs in the High Court when a single Judge upset the finding on limitation and directed disposal of the appeal on the merits
The last lap of the litigation has spurred them to this Court where learned counsel have addressed arguments principally on two facets of the plea of limitation
The primary question is whether the present suit is one for any thing done or purporting to have been done in pursuance of this Act 
The action is for non delivery of one out of 53 bundles
plaintiffs  counsel argues that an omission to do cannot be an act done 401 or purporting to have been done 
Again the failure to do what the Act mandates the Port Trust to do viz to deliver consignments to owners cannot be in pursuance of this Act 
How can the statute direct non delivery and how can the Port officials reasonably conceive that not delivering the goods committed to their charge is in pursuance of statutory duty The perverse verdict would then be reached that violation of a law is fulfilment thereof
Embellished by numerous rulings Shri Cooper strove to convince us of the substance of the further link in the chain of his case that the cause of action for recovery of the value of the lost article could not spring to life before the knowledge of the landing and loss was brought home to the plaintiff
How can a party other than one with uncanny powers of extra sensory perception sue for recovery from a bailee of compensation for loss of goods at a time when he is ignorant of the key fact that they have come into the latter s hands and have been lost In short for a cause of action for non delivery by the bailee to materialise scienter that there has been delivery to the bailee and that it has since become non deliverable while in his custody is a sine qua non
Otherwise suits for loss of goods would be some sort of a blind man s buff game
The Additional Solicitor General armed with many decisions Indian and English parried the thrust by urging the rival position that an act includes an omission in circumstances like the present that an official may contravene the duty laid under an Act and may yet purport to act under it so much so delivery of 52 out of 53 bundles impliedly omitting to deliver one item is in pursuance of the statutory scheme of accepting the cargo discharged from the vessel warehousing them and making them available for delivery to consignees
In his submission to dissect the integral course of statutory performance and to pick out a minor component of commission  as constituting the infringement of the owner s right which has given rise to the cause of action is to misread the purpose and to re write the effect of section 87 and similar provisions in many statutes calculated to protect public officer and institutions on a special basis He further contends that even if theoretically speaking knowledge of the landing of the goods may be an ingredient of the cause of action correspondence between the bailee and the owner regarding search for the landed goods is no ground to postpone the accrual of the right to sue and When in a large consignment the bulk of it is delivered on a certain date the few undelivered items should also be reasonably presumed as having been landed and ready to be handed over thus bringing into being on such short delivery the cause  to sue
Likewise when the rules specify a week of the landing vide section 61A within which the owner is expected to take charge of the goods and the Port Trust is absolved from liability thereafter that is indication of the reasonable limit of time for delivery
Limitation begins to run when the goods should reasonably have been delivered ignoring operations for tracing the missing goods
The absurd result would otherwise be that the right to sue would flicker fitfully as the search for the last bundle is protracting and the Port Trust can indefinitely put off a claimant s suit by persisting in vain searches for the pilfered article and sending soothing 402 letters that efforts trace are in progress  And more sinister is the possibility of owners of considerable consignments by oblique methods getting letters of promise of search despatched by Port officials and thus postpone the time for taking delivery thereby saving immensely on warehousing charges which are heavy in big cities
Corruption spreads where such legal construction protects
The proponents of both views have cited rulings in support but the sound approach of studying for oneself the sense of section 87 prompts us to set it out together with other cognate sections get the hang of the statutory scheme and read the plain meaning of the notice and limitation provisions
section 87
No suit or other proceeding shall be commenced against any person for any thing done or purporting to have been done in pursuance of this Act without giving to such person one month s previous notice in writing of the intended suit or other proceeding and of the cause thereof nor after six months from the accrual of the cause of such suit or other proceeding  section 61A1
The Board shall immediately upon the landing of any goods take charge thereof except as may be otherwise provided in the bye laws and store such as are liable in their opinion to suffer from exposure in any shed or warehouse belonging to the Board
2 If any owner without any default on the part of the Board fails to remove any goods other than those stored in the warehouses appointed by the Board for the storage of duty paid goods or in warehouses appointed under section 15 or licenced under section 16 of the  from the premises of the Board within seven clear days from the date on which such goods shall have been landed such goods shall remain on the premises of the Board at the sole risk and expense of the owner and the Board shall thereupon be discharged from all liability theretofore incurred by them in respect of such goods  61B The responsibility of the Board for the loss destruction or deterioration of goods of which it has taken charge shall subject to the other provisions of this Act and subject also in the case of goods received for carriage by railways to the provisions of the Indian Railways Act 1890 be that of a bailee under section 151 152 and 161 of the  omitting the words in the absence of any special last mentioned Act
 Let us interpret and apply
Non delivery of an article is an omission not an act and in any case
not one in pursuance of the Act because the statute does not direct the Port Trust not to deliver the goods received from the 403 ships that Call at the port
This view has found favour with the High Court
With due difference to the learned judge we think this approach to be too literal narrow and impractical For inaction has a positive side as where a driver refuses to move his vehicle from the middle of tile road or even an operator declines to stop an engine or a surgeon omits to take out a swab  of cotton after the operation
Omission has an activist facet like commission more so when there is a duty not to omit
Again where a course of conduct is enjoined by a law the whole process pursuant to that obligation is an act done or purporting to be done under that Act although the components of that comprehensive act may consist of commissions and omissions
A policeman acts or purports to act not only when he uses his lathi but also when he omits to open the lock up to set the arrested free or omits to produce him before a Magistrate
The ostensible basis of the whole conduct colours both doings and defaults and the use of the words  purporting to have been done
in their natural sweep cover the commission omission Complex
A cognate point arises as to whether you can attribute the neglect to comply with a law as something done in pursuance of that law
Here again the fallacy is obvious
If under colour of office
clothed with the rules of authority a person indulges in conduct not falling under the law he is not acting in accordance with the sanction of the statute or in bona fide execution of authority but ostensibly under the cloak of statute
It is the apparel that oft proclaims the man and whether anything is done under in pursuance of or under colour of a law
merely means that the act is done in apparent though not real cover of the statute
Broadly understood can the official when challenged fall back in justification on his official trappings A revenue officer distraining goods wrongfully or a municipal officer receiving license fee from a non licensee is violating the law but purports to act under it
On the other hand a police officer who collects water cess or a municipal officer who takes another into custody is not by any stretch of language acting in pursuance of or under the relevant Act that gives him power
And certainly not an act of taking bribe or committing rape
Such is the sense of the words we are called upon to construe
The true meaning of such and similar words used in like statutes has been set out In Halsbury correctly and concisely  An act may be done in Pursuance of or in the execution of the powers granted by a statue although that act is prohibited by the statute
A person acting under statutory powers may erroneously exceed the powers given or inadequately discharge the duties imposed by a statute vet if he acts bona fide in order to execute such powers Pr to discharge such duties
he is considered as acting in pursuance of the statute
Where a statute imposes a duty the omissions to do something that ought to be done in order completely to Perform the duty on the continuing to leave any such duty unpe rformed amounts to an act done or 404 intended to be done within the meaning of a statute which provides a special period of limitation for such an act 3rd edn vol
24 pp189 190
A selective reference to the rulings cited at the bar may now be made
although in this blurred area conflicting pronouncements have made for confusion a systematised presentation will yield the clear inference we have reached without reference to the citations
In one of the earliest cases under the Highway Act the defendant
surveyor of the perish of T was charged with failure to remove the gravel from the highway which obstructed and caused nuisance to the public and overturned the plaintiff s carriage
It was proved that the defended was guilty of want to care in leaving the gravel there and the questions arose whether under section 109 of the Highway Act he was entitled to notice
Lord Denman CJ disposed of the matter tersely  It is clear that the defendant is charged with a tort committed in the course of his official duty he is charged as surveyor
with the positive act of leaving the gravel on the road where it had been improperly placed for an unreasonable time On that simple ground I think it clear that he was entitled to notice
 Patterson J considered the same point a little more at length taking the view  that the charge is not one of mere omissions but of actually continuing the nuisance
That is a charge of doing something wrong of keeping the gravel in an improper place
an act continued until the concurrence of the mischief
Is it then an act done in pursuance of the statute  It is not denied that the heap of gravel was put there in pursuance of the statute  it could not be spread at the same moment the question then would arise whether the length of time during which it was kept in a heap was reasonable or not
The continuing therefore was a thing done in pursuance of the statute  Wightman J struck a similar note
The learned Judge observed The defendant is liable only by virtue of his office
lie is charged with  permitting an obstruction to remain of which permission he is guilty in his character of an officer described in the Act of Parliament
He is therefore under sev 109 entitled to a notice in order to enable him to tender amends This decision rendered around 130 years ago has a modern freshness and it is remarkable that the language of the statute construed by the Judges there has a likeness to the one we are concerned with here namely anything done in pursuance of or under the authority of statute
405 Still earlier rulings may be referred to for instance Palmer V Tile Grana Junction Railway Company1 where the same point was ruled
but where Baron Parke said  If the action was brought against the railway company for the omission of some duty imposed upon them by the Act
this notice would be required
 In another old decision Poulsum vs Thirst2 the construction of the expression acts done or intended to be done under the powers of the Metropolitan Board of Works and fell for decision
Byles J relied on Newton vs Ellia3 where also a similar set of words had to be interpreted and omitted to be done was absent
In the case decided by Byles J the defendant stopped up the sewer and neglected to drain it thereby causing injury The learned Judge belt that the defendant s conduct must be looked at as a whole and that he was entitled to notice of action
The other two Judges took the same view
Newton vs Ellis4 decided in 1855 under section 139 of the Public Health Act 1848 for injury caused by digging a hole on the road without placing a light or signal there turned on the need for notice before summons
Earlier cases like Davis vs Curling5 were referred to and the conclusion reached that though the gravamen of the charge against the defendant was the omission to place a light in the spot of danger it attracted the formula anything done or intended to be done under the provisions of this Act comparable to the phraseology of the Act which came under the judicial lens in
Davis vs Curling things done in pursuance of or under the authority  of the Act
Coleridge J observed with felicitous precisions This is not a case of not doing t e defendant does something omitting to secure protection for the public
He is not sued for not putting up a light but for the complex act
 Erle J likewise said Here the cause of action is the making the hole compounded with the not putting up a light
When these are blended the result is no more than if two positive acts were committed such as digging the hole and throwing out the dirt the two would make up one act
 Are we not concerned with a blended brew of act and omission a complex act a compound act of delivery cum non delivery pursuant to the statute without which the vinculum juris between the Board and the plaintiff did not exist Jolliffee vs The Wallasey Local Board6 is a leading case rightly pressed for acceptance of its ratio by the learned Solicitor General
Kesting J after finding for the plaintiff on negligence focussed atten 1  3   5 8 Q D 286
2 1867 2 L R 449
4  6 1873 L R 62
406 tion on the nature of the Act and the need for notice
He observed As a matter of fact therefore I come to the conclusion that the defendants were guilty of the negligence complained of and that negligence was the cause of the accident and as matter of law I hold that negligence to give the plaintiffs a cause of action against the local board
But assuming that to be so then comes the further question whether the defendants are not absolved from liability in this action by reason of the absence of a notice of action
For myself I must express my regret that this case should be decided upon such a point but my opinion is that the defendants were entitled to notice
This question depends upon the construction of the several Acts of Parliament which have been placed before us Now the local board was originally constituted under the Public Health Act 1848 and it is not denied that for anything done or intended to be done under that Act they would be entitled to a notice of action under section 139 That
however does not dispose of the matter a further question arises viz whether the acts complained of here are acts which could be done by the local board under the provisions of the Act of Parliament so as to entitle them to a notice of action It has been suggested that protection is not intended to be given by clauses of this description in cases of nonfeasance
so is clear from the cases of Davis vs Curling Newton vs Ellis Wilson vs Mayor  C of Halifax and Salmes vs Judge all of which seem to me to establish that a case of what appears to be nonfeasance may be within the protection of the Act
 Brett J expressed himself equally unminicingly Now two objections were urged by Mr Aspinnal
In the first place he says the thing complained of here is a mere nonfeasance and therefore not an act done
 If I rightly understand the judgments in former cases the rule is thiswhere a man is sued in tort for the breach of some positive duty imposed upon him by an Act of Parliament or for the omission to perform some such duty either may be an act done or intended to be done under the authority of the Act and if so done or intended to be done the defendant is entitled to a notice of action In Wilson vs Mayor  c of Halifax1 Kelly CB states the proposition in those terms It has been urged on the part of the plaintiff that the charge against the defendants is not of any act done or intended to be done but of an omission to erect or cause to be erected a fence between the foot path and the goit and that the omission to do an act is not 1 Law Rep 407 an act done or intended to be lone  Some authorities have been cited on both sides but we think that whatever may be the construction which might be put upon the words of the statute if the question arose in this case for the first time it is now settled by authority that an omission to do something that ought to be done in order to the complete performance of a duty imposed upon a public body under an Act of
Parliament or the continuing to leave any such duty unperformed amounts to an act done or intended to be done within the meaning of these clauses requiring notice of action for the protection of public bodies acting in the discharge of public duties under Acts of Parliament It would seem from these authorities that where the plaintiff is suing in tort nonfeasance is to be considered as  an act done within
such clauses as these Mr Cooper tried to distinguish Jolliffee s case but having given our close attention to the matter we decline to jettison this weighty judgment
Jolliffee s case was followed by the Privy Council in Queen vs Williams1
The Judicial Committee took the view that an omission to do something which ought to be done in order to the complete performance of a duty imposed upon a public body under an Act of Parliament or the continuing to leave any such duty unperformed amounts to an act done or intended to be  done within the meaning of a clause requiring a notice of action A case which went up to the Privy Council from India under the Calcutta Port Act 1890 was decided on similar lines by the Judicial Committee in Commissioner for the Port of Calcutta vs Corporation of Calcutta2
Lord Alness observed Reliance was placed by the respondents on the case of the Bradford Corporation vs Myers 1916 I AC 242
Now inasmuch as that case related to the construction of the Public Authorities Protection Act 1893 which contains language not to be found in the Indian statute and which omits language to be found in the latter manifestly the decision falls to be handled with c are
In particular the English Act does not contain the word is purporting or professing to act in pursuance of the statute
Their Lordships regard these words as of pivotal importance
Their presence in the statute appears to postulate that work which is not done in pursuance of the statute may nevertheless be accorded its protection if the work professes or purports to  be done in pursuance of the statute
The English Act was properly treated by the House in the Bradford case as one from which the words profession or purporting were omitted and the observations of the House must of course be construed secundum subjectam materiem 2 1937 64IA 363 371
1 1884 9 L R 41 8 408 In a different context though the Privy Council had to deal with a similar provision namely section 197 of the Criminal Procedure Code in the well known case of Gill vs The King1
Lord Simonds speaking for the Board explained the position of law thus  A public servant can only be said to act or to purport to act in the discharge of his official duty if his act is such as to lie within the scope of his official duty
Thus a judge neither acts nor purports to act as a judge in receiving a bribe though the judgment which he delivers may be such an act nor does a Government medical officer act or purport to act as a public servant in picking the pocket of a patient whom he is examining though the examination itself may be such an act
The test may well be whether the public servant if challenged can reasonably claim that what he does he does in virtue of his office
 It may be mentioned even here that the Judicial Committee had distinguished Bradford Corporation vs Myers2 on which considerable reliance was placed by Shri Cooper and also in several decisions which took the opposite point of view
We need make no comments on that decision except to state that for exceedingly excellent reasons the Judicial Committee has put that ruling out of the way
Shri Cooper brought to our notice the circumstance that Public Authorities Protection Act 1893 brought in neglect and default  which became necessary only because any act done in pursuance of any Act of Parliament would not otherwise comprehend omissions and defaults
We are not impressed with this submission and decline to speculate why a change of language was made if the law packed omission into act
Gill vs The King supra just referred to affirms the careful analysis of the authorities by Varadachariar J in Hori Ram Singh vs The Crown3 and also the ratio in Huntley s 4 case
In Hori Ram s case which related to the construction of section 197 of the Criminal Procedure Code and section 2701 of the Government of India Act Varadachariar J brought out the true meaning of the words act done or purporting to be done in the execution of his duty
The learned Judge observed  Apart from the principle that for the purposes of the criminal law acts and illegal omissions stand very much on the same footing the conduct of the appellant in maintaining the accounts which it was his duty to keep has to be dealt with as a whole and the particular omission cannot of itself be treated as an offence except as a step in the appellant s conduct in relation to the maintenance of the register which it was his duty correctly to maintain Stress was laid rightly by the learned Judge on the relevance of public interest in protecting a public servant and in restrictions being placed on an aggrieved citizen seeking redress in a court of law to point out 1 1948 75 I A 41 59 60
3 2 4 409 that acts which have no reference to official duty should not come within the protective umbrella of these statutory provisions
The learned Judge insisted that an act is not less one done or purporting to be done in execution of a duty because the officer concerned does it negligently The true test if we may say so with great respect is whether the conduct of the public servant or public body viewed as a whole including as it may omissions  also be attributed to the exercise of office
Sri Cooper reinforced his contrary argument by reliance on the case of Revati Mohan Das vs Jatindra Mohan Ghosh1 which dealt with section 80 of the Civil Procedure Code
That decision however is distinguishable and relates to an optional act or omission of a public officer where it could not be designated that the failure to pay the debt by a manager was an illegal omission  constituting an act  under section 3 of the General Clauses Act
A decision of the Calcutta High Court Commissioner for the Court of Calcutta vs Abdul Rahim Osman  Co2 turning on the construction of a similar provision section 142 of the Calcutta Port Act covers the various decisions Indian and English and after pointed reference to Amrik Singh s case reaches the conclusion  There must be a reasonable connection between the act and the discharge of official duty the act must bear such relation to the duty that the accused could lay a reasonable but not a pretended or fanciful claim that he did it in the course of the performance of his duty
 The Bench proceeded to set out the following propositions which meet with our approval a I order to apply the bar under sec
142 of the Calcutta Port Act it is first to be determined whether the act which is complained of in the suit in question can be said to come within the scope of the official duty of the person or persons who are sought to be made liable
This question can be answered in the affirmative where there is a reasonable connection between the act and the discharge of the official duty
b Once the scope of the official duty is determined sec
142 will protect the defendants not only from a claim based on breach of the duty but also from a claim based upon an omission to perform such duty
c The protection of sec
142 cannot be held to be confined to acts done in the exercise of a statutory power but also extends to acts done within the scope of an official duty
 The case dealt with was also one of short delivery and consequent loss of a part of the goods and the suit was dismissed for being beyond the short period of limitation prescribed under the special Act
Again in District Board of Manbhum vs Shyamapada Sarkar3 the Bihar Local Self Government Act containing a provision analogous to 1 1934 61 I A 171
2 68 Cal
Weekly Notes 814
3 A I R 1955 Pat
410 what we are concerned with here was construed by a bench of that Court reading the words anything done under this Act to include anything Omitted to be done under the Act and further that anything done tinder this Act  necessarily and logically embraces anything wrongfully done or wrongfully omitted to be done
In Gorakh Fulji Mahala vs State1 Chandrachud J as he then was made an elaborate study of a comparable provision in the Bombay Police Act section 161 and followed the Federal Court decisions already referred to by us as well as this Court s decision in Shreekantiah Ramayya kunipalli vs State of Bombay2
The learned Judge summed up the law thus The decisions cited above have uniformly taken the view that in an act cannot be said to be done under colour of office or under colour of duty or in the Purported execution of official duties unless there is a reasonable connection between the act and the office
A view has also been taken in these decisions that one of the tests for determining whether an act has been done in the purported discharge of official duties is whether the public servant can defend his act by reference to the nature of the duties of his office if he is challenged while doing the act
 A few more decisions apart from what has already been referred to by us specifically dealing with similar causes of action under similar statutes viz the Calcutta Port Act and the Madras Port Trust Act have discussed the problem before us
In Madras Port vs Home Insurance Co 3 a Division Bench of the Madras High Court adopted the wider view and held The services which the Board has to perform and could perform statutorily under the statutory powers and duties cannot be dissociated from its omissions and failures in relation to the goods
Any action Which is called for will properly be covered by the Words anything done or purporting to be done in pursuance of this Act
Under the Madras General Clauses Act 1891 words which refer to
the acts done extend also to illegal omissions
 Natesan J relied on Calcutta Port Commissioner vs Corporation of Calcutta4 where the Judicial Committee had stressed the ampler sense of purporting or professing to act in pursuance of the statute  and observed Their Lordships regard these words as of pivotal importance
Their presence in the statute appears to postulate that work which it hot done in pursuance of the statute may nevertheless be accorded its protection if the work professes or purports to be done in pursuance of the statute 1 I L R 3 A I R  57 58
2  4 A I R 411 The whole issue is clinched in our view by the final pronouncement of this Court in Public Prosecutor Madras vs R Raju1
the interpretation of s402 of the Central Excis  and Salt Act 1944 and the antithesis argued between act  and omission  provoked a panoramic survey of the Indian statute book
Reference was made to Pritam Singh s 2 case where absence from duty at the time of the roll call was held to be something done under the provisions of the Police Act
Maulad Ahmadabad S3 case Was relied an as fortifying this view for there too a Head Constable who made false entries in a General Diary of the Police Station as held entitled toinvoke the 3 months limitation under section 42 of the Police Act since the act complained of was the non discharge of duty in keeping a regular diary
Even filing false returns by a sales tax assessee was held in Sitaram vs State of Madhya Pradesh4 as an act done under the Berar Sales Tax Act whereunder a prosecution for such an
act had to be brought in three months
The ratio decidendi is set out by Ray J as he then was thus  25
These decisions in the light of the definition of the word act  in the General Clauses Act establish that non compliance with the provisions of the statute by omitting to do hat the act enjoins will be anything done or ordered to be done under the Act
The complaint against the respondents was that they wanted to evade payment of duty
Evasion was by using and affixing cut and torn banderols
Books of accounts were not correctly maintained There was shortage of banderol in stock
Unbanderolled matche s were found
These are all infraction of the provisions in respect of things done or ordered to be done under the Act
In Amalgamated Electricity Co vs Municipal Committee Ajmer 1969 1 SCR 430 the meaning of omission  of a statutory duty was explained by this Court
Hegde J speaking for the Court said The omission in question must have a positive content in it
In other words the non discharge of that duty must amount to An illegality
The positive aspect of omission in the present case in evasion of payment of duty
The provisions of the Act require proper affixing of banderols
Cut or turn banderols were used
Unban dderolled match boxes were found
These proisions about use of banderols are for collection and payment of excise duty
The respondents did not pay the lawful dues which are acts to be done or ordered to be done under the Act
 We readily concede that it is oversimplfication to state that no court has taken the contrary view both on the question of act not including an omission and action contrary to the behest of the statute not being done pursuant to or under the statute
An exhaustive consideration of these twin propositions is found in Zila Parishad vs Shanti Devi5
1 A I R 2  3 1963 Supp 2 section C A 38
4 1962 Supp 3 section C R 21
5  412 Seemingly substantial support for Shri Cooper s contention is derived from observations in State of Gujarat vs Kansara Manilal Bhikhala1 where rejecting a plea of protection under section 117 of the  by an occupier of a factory who had violated the duties cast on him Hidayatullah J as he then was observed But the critical words are any thing done or intended to he done under the Act
The protection conferred can only be claimed by a person who can plead that he was required to do or omit to do something under the Act or that he intended to comply with any of its provisions It cannot confer immunity in respect of actions which are not done under the Act but are done contrary to it
Even assuming that an act includes an omission as stated in the General Clauses Act the omission also must be one which is enjoined by the Act
It is not sufficient to say that the act was honest
That would bring it only within the words good faith
It is necessary further to establish that what is complained of is something which the Act requires should be done or should be omitted to be done
There must be a compliance or an intended compliance with a provision of the Act before the protection can be claimed
The section cannot cover a case of a breach or an intended breach of the Act however honest the conduct otherwise
In this connection it is necessary to point out as was done in the Nagpur case above referred to that the occupier and manager are exempted from liability in certain cases mentioned in section 101
Where an occupier or a manager is charged with an offence he is entitled to make a complaint in his own turn against any person When acctual the actual offender and on proof of the commission of the offence by such person the occupier or the manager is absolved from liability
This shows that compliance with the peremptory provisions of the Act is essential and unless the occupier or the manager brings the real offender to book he must bear the responsibility
Such a provision largely excludes the operation of section 117 in respect of per sons guilty of a breach of the provisions of the Act
It is not necessary that mens rea must always be established as has been said in some of the cases above referred to
The responsibility exists without a guilty mind
An adequate safeguard however exists in section 1 0 1 analysed above and the occupier and manager can save themselves if they prove that they are not the real offenders but who in fact is
It is obvious that this ruling can hardly help once we understand the setting and the scheme of the statute and the purpose of protection of workers ensured by casting an absolute obligation on occupiers to observe certain conditions
The context is the thing and not verbal similitude
In a recent ruling of this Court in Khandu Sonu Dhobi vs State of Maharashtra2 Khanna J while repelling a plea of immunity from 1 2  413 prosecution put forward by the accused on the score of limitation and the case being in respect of anything done or intended to be done under this Act The Bombay Land Improvement Scheme Act 1942 said This contention in our opinion is devoid of force
Subsection 2 refers to suit or prosecution against a public servant or person duly authorised under the Act in respect of anything done or intended to be done under the Bombay Land Improvement Schemes Act
It cannot be said that the acts of the accused appellants in preparing false documents and in committing criminal breach of trust in respect of the amount of Rs 30907 as also their act of criminal misconduct were done under the Bombay Land Improvement Schemes Act
Sub section 2 of section 23 deals with anything done or intended to be done under
the above mentioned Act by a public servant or a person duly authorised under the Act
It has no application where something is done not under the Act even though it has been done by a public servant who has been entrusted with duties of carrying out improvement schemes under the above mentioned Act
The impugned acts of the appellants in the present case were not in discharge of their duties under the above mentioned Act but in obvious breach and flagrant disregard of their duties
Not only they did no rectification work for the Bundh which was a part of the improvement scheme they also misappropriated the amount which had been entrusted to them for the purpose of rectification
 How slippery and specious law and logic can be unless the Court is vigilant is evident from this kind of defence Here is a case not of performing or omitting to perform an official act in the course of which an offence is committed
On the contrary an independent excursion into crime using the opportunity of office without any nexus with discharge of official function is what we have in that case
The Court significantly highlights the fact that not only they did no rectification work for the Bundh they also misappropriated the amount entrusted to them for the purpose of rectification  We hope no policeman can shelter himself after a rape of an arrested Oman or shooting of his own wife on the pretext of acting under the Police Act
Immunity cannot be confused with toxicity disastrous in law as in medicine
Nor can functions of office be equated with opportunities of office without being guilty of obtuseness
This chapter of our discussion yields the conclusion that an act includes an omission regardless of the General Clauses Act which does not apply to antecedent statutes not under all circumstances but in legislations like the Act we are construing
Again what is done under purported exercise of statutory functions even if in excess of or contrary to its provisions is done pursuant to or under the Act so long as there is a legitimate link between the offending act and the official role
Judged thus the defence by the Board fills the bill
The Scheme of the statute is simple
When cargo ships call at the port the Board constituted under the Act shall take charge of the goods landed from the vessel and store them properly section 61 A 1 
The 14 L954SupCI74 414 Board cannot keep goods indefinitely hard pressed as any modern port is for space and facing as it does intractable problems of protection of goods
When the goods have landed the owner has to be on the alert and get ready to remove them within 7 days after which the statutory bailee the Board is discharged from liability subject of course to any default on the part of the Board in the matter of making the goods deliverable section 61A2
The span of statutory custody of the Board is short but during that time its obligations are those of a bailee under sections 151 152 and 161 of the  omitting the words in the absence of any special contract in section 152 of the Contract Act section 61B
If the person entitled to the goods defaults in removing them within one month of the Board coming into custody special powers of disposal by public auction are given by section 64A
The Act charges the Port authorities with a wealth of functions and duties and necessarily legal proceedings follow upon the defects defaults and other consequences of abuse of power
Even so a public body undertaking work of the sort which a Port carries out will be exposed to an explosive amount of litigation and the Board as well as its officers will be burdened by suits and prosecutions on top of the pressure of handling goods worth crores daily
Public bodies and officers will suffer irremediably in such vulnerable circumstances unless actions are brought when evidence is fresh and before delinquency fades and so it makes sense to provide as in many other cases of public institutions and servants a reasonably short period of time within which the legal proceedings should be started
This is nothing unusual in the jurisprudence of India or England and is constitutionally sound
Section 87 is illumined by the protective purpose which will be ill served if the shield of a short limitation operates in cases of misfeasance and malfeasance but not nonfeasance
The object stripped of legalese and viewed through the glasses of simple sense is that remedial process against official action showing up as wrong doing or non doing which inflicts injury on a citizen should not be delayed too long to obliterate the probative material for honest defence
The dichotomy between act and omission however logical or legal has no relevance in this context
So the intendment of the statute certainly takes in its broad embrace all official action positive and negative which is the operative cause of the grievance
Although the Act in the present case uses only the expression act  and omits neg lect or default or omission the meaning does not suffer and if other statutes have used all these words it is more the draftsman s anxiety to avoid taking risks in court not an addition to the semantic scope of the word act 
Of course this is the compulsion of the statutory context and it may well be that other enactments dealing with different subject matter may exclude from an act  an omission 
This possibility is reduced a great deal by the definition of act  in the various General Clauses Acts as including illegal omissions 
The leading case of Jolliffee vs The Wallesey Local Board1 decided nearly a century ago has stood the test of time and still cunent coin and 1 1873 9 L R 62
415 Stroud Stroud s Judicial Dictionary 3rd edn
Vol 1 page 877 has extracted its ratio thus  An omission to do something which ought to be done in order to complete performance of a duty imposed upon a public body under an Act of Parliament or the continuing to leave any such duty unperformed amounts to an act done or intended to be done within the meaning of a clause requiring a notice of action Joliffe vs Wallesey LR 9 CP 62
 We regret the prolixity of the judgment because we appreciate brevity but it is the judicial price or tribute to the learning and length of the arguments presenting a panoramic view of Anglo Indian judicial thought for which we are obliged to both counsel
Indeed the plethora of rulings cited has been skipped here and there by a process of calculated ricochet without omitting the more salient cases
And we are re assured at the end of this pilgrimage through precedents that the soundness of the view we have taken is attested by pronouncements of vigorous judges twice three score and ten years ago in words which age cannot wither nor custom stale 
Law is a practical instrument a working tool in a workaday world and where as here the effected fraction of the community is the common official
the commercial man and ordinary folk the wiser rule of construction follows commonsense not casuistry context not strictness and not subtle nuance but plain sense
The logical conclusion of the legal study is that the short delivery of one bundle or rather the act of under delivery in purported discharge of the bailee s obligation under section 61B of the Act is covered by section 87 and the truncated limitation prescribed thereunder will apply
Of course the statutory notice under section 83 is a condition precedent to although not a constituent of the cause of action And there is some authority for the position that the period of one month may also be tacked on under section 152 of the 
In the view we take on the ultimate issue this question is immaterial
Even so the decisive date on which the decree turns and time runs has to be settled
if the applies the suit by any reckoning is not barred but since it does not apply the critical issue is as to when time begins to run
Brushing aside technicalities and guided by the analogy of article 120 of the  we think it night to told that the cause of action for short delivery comes into being only when the consignee comes to know that the bailment has come into existence
You cannot claim delivery from a statutory bailee till you know of the bailment which under the Act arises only on the vessel discharging the goods into the port certainly not before
In this species of actions the right to sue postulates knowledge of the right
Till then it is embryonic unborn
A vital point then is as to when the first plaintiff came to know of the goods in question having landed
The defendant says that when the bulk of the consignment is delivered on a Particular date it must be presumed unless a contrary inference on special circumstances is made out that the undelivered Dart was deliverable on that date so 416 much so that limitation began to run from then on
Any further representation by the bailee that he was trying to trace the missing bundle would not affect the cause of action and therefore the commencement of limitation
How can a claim be barred without being born  When then did the right to sue arise  It depends on what right was infringed or duty breached
Which leads us to the enquiry as to what is the statutory responsibility cast on the Board and what is the violation alleged to create the cause  of action
The bundle of facts constitutive of the right to sue certainly includes the breach of bailee s duties
Section 61B of the Act saddles the Board with the obligations of a bailee under sections 151 152 and 161 of the Contract Act in regard to loss destruction or deterioration of goods of which it takes charge
The degree of care is fixed by section 151 the absolvatory circumstances are indicated by section 152 and the responsibility for loss is fastened by section 162 if by the fault of the bailee the goods are not delivered or tendered at the proper time to the bailor
The proper time for delivery is as soon as the time for which the goods were bailed has expired or the purpose of the bailment has been accomplished Sec 160 although not in terms woven into the Port Trust Act is impliedly incorporated because section 161 inevitably brings it into play
Even so when does the time for which the goods are bailed expire  The answer is according to the Solicitor General when the week after landing of the goods expires if section 61A2 betokens anything on this point
He urges that when the bulk of a consignment is delivered by the bailee the time for delivery of the short delivered part must be reasonably held to have come
Finally he submits that the time consumed by search for the landedgoods cannot be added for fixing the terminus a quo of limitation
Assuming for arguments sake all these in favour of the appellant one critical issue claims precedence over them
When does the statutory bailment take place and can the time for delivery to the owner of the goods arise before he knows or at least has good grounds to know that the bailment has in law come into being  The owner must ordinarily take delivery in a week s time after landing since thereafter the Board will cease to be liable for loss etc save of course when the latter defaults in giving delivery as for instance the goods are irremovably located or physical obstruction to removal is offered by striking workers or natural calamities
Here the 7 days ended on September 19 1959 when actually 52 out of the 53 bundles were delivered
And if the due date for delivery of the missing bundle had arisen then the suit is admittedly time barred
However the learned Solicitor General rightly agrees that 7 days of unloading is no rigid wooden event to ignite limitation and it depends on other factors which condition the reasonable time when delivery ought to be made
If a tidal bore has inhibited approach to the port it is a futile law which insists on delivery date having arrived and therefore limitation having been set in motion
The key question is according to counsel when ought the goods have been put in a deliverable state by the Board 
If having regard to reasonable circum 417 stances the Port Trust did not tender delivery the right of action for non delivery subject to statutory notice arose and the calendar would begin to count the six months in section 87
We are inclined to assent to this stand for legal and pragmatic reasons
In Madras Port Trust case where action for loss of goods was laid two extreme contentions competed for acceptance
The Board argued that the goods once landed time ran inflexibly and an absolute span of one month having expired before statutory notice was given the suit was barred
This was over ruled by the Court Ms Swastik Agency vs Madras Port Trust 1
But the opposite plea equally extravagant commended itself to the Court erroneously in our view
The plea was that till the plaintiff knew of the loss destruction or deterioration time stood still even if many months might have rolled on after the vessel had discharged the goods
It is true that section 87 speaks of 6 months from the accrual of the cause of such suit 
What is cause of the suit Loss destruction or deterioration  If so as Ramamurti J has held  It stands to common sense that the owner cannot be expected to file a suit before he is given access to the goods and also an effective opportunity to examine the goods and he becomes aware of the loss or damage which had occurred to the goods
To hold that the period of one month specified in s402 would commence to run even before the owner of the goods became aware of the loss or damage would result in absurd and startling results
 The legal confusion issues from the clubbing together of the triple categories of damage
Cause of suit being destruction or deterioration while the goods are in the custody of the bailee it is correct to read as this Court did in a different situation under the Land Acquisition Act in Harish Chandra vs Deputy Land Acquisition Officer2 knowledge of the damage by the affected party as an essential requirement of fair play and natural justice
The error stems from visualising loss as the cause  of suit
The bailee is bound to return deliver or tender
If he defaults in this duty the cause  of action arises
While destruction or deterioration may need inspection by the owner it may be proper to import scienter as integral to the cause  or grievance
But loss flows from sheer non delivery with nothing super added
_Loss is the direct result
viewed through the owner s eyes of non return non delivery or non tender by the bailee the actomission which completes the cause vide 
161 Contract Act
What is complained of is the nondelivery the resultant damage being the loss of goods
We must keel  the breach of duty which is the cause distinct from the loss which is the conse quence
The judicial interpretation cannot take liberties with the language of the law beyond the strict needs of natural justice
So we hold that awareness of the factum of loss of goods is not a sine qua non of the cause 
1 A I R 2 AIR 1961 SC 1500
418 In a stroke of skilful advocacy it was urged that when the bailee fails to return the goods it is like a suit for wrongful detention and the cause of action is a continuing one
This is an action in detention and its impact on limitation must be recognised was the contention stren gthened by Dhian Singh Sabha Singh vs Union of India1 and certain passages from Clerk  Lindsell on Torts 11th Edition pages 441 and 442 paras 720  721
The flaw in the argument is that we are concerned with a statutory bailment statutory action for loss due to non delivery and not a contractual breach and suit in damages or for value of the goods bailed
Another fascinatingline of thought was suggested to extricate the plaintiff from the coils of brief limitation
When the defendant holds goods as bailee the plaintiff may found his cause of action on a breach of the defendant s duty as bailee of the goods by refusal to deliver them upon request
Gopal Chandra Bose vs Surendra Nath Dutt2 Laddo Begam vs Jamal ud din3 and Kupruswami Mudaliar vs Pannalal Sawcar4 were cited in support
Other rulings striking a similar note were also relied on
But we need not express any opinion on the soundness of that position for here we are dealing with a statutory liability where the plenary liabilities of a bailee cannot be imported
Counsel for the respondents also urged that the analogy of article 120 of the entitles him to reckon time from when he came to know of the facts making up the right to sue
In Annamalai Chettiar vs Muthukarappan Chattiar5 the Judicial Committee had observed In their Lordships  View the case falls under article 120 under which the time begins to run when the right to sue accrues
In a recent decision of their Lordship s Board delivered by Sir Binod Mitter it is stated in reference to article 120  There can be no right to sue  until there is an accrual of the right asserted in the suit and its infringement or at least a clear and unequivocal threat to infringe that right by the defendant against whom the suit is instituted  Bala vs Koklan6
Counsel for the appellants admitted that he was unable to specify any date at which the claim to an account here in suit was denied by the appellants
Accord ingly this contention fails
 The reference to Sir Binod Mitter s observations relates
to the ruling in Bala vs Koklan
The proposition is impeccable but is inapplicable if it is urged that the knowledge of the loss marks the relevant date
On the other hand if the right to sue or the accrual of the cause of action is based on the infringement by non delivery the knowledge must be the knowledge of the factum of bailment which takes place on the unloading from the vessel and the taking charge by 1  2 3 All 45
4 5 58 IA 18
6 1930 LR 57 IA 325
419 the Board
That is to say it is preposterous to postulate the running of limitation from a date anterior to when the plaintiff has come to know that his missing goods have been landed on the port
Mohammad Yunus vs Syed Unnisa1 is authority for the rule that there can be no right to sue under article 120 until there is an accrual of the right asserted which as we have shown involves awareness of the bailment
It meets with reason and justice to state that the cause in section 87 cannot arise until the consignee gains knowledge that his goods have come into the hands of the Board
The Railways Act has spanned cases where courts have laid down legal tests for determining the commencement of limitation
Views ran on rival lines till in Bootamal s case2 this Court settled the conflict and gave the correct lead which has been heavily relied on by the Solicitor General
Sri Cooper contested the application of the principle in Bootamal on the score that article 31 Limitation Act 1908 which fell for construction there used the words when the goods ought to be delivered and covers both delayed delivery and nondelivery which were absent in s87 and argued that even otherwise it did not run counter to the contention of the respondent
Anyway the Court held there as follows Reading the words in their plain grammatical meaning they are in our opinion capable of only one interpretation namely that they contemplate that the time would begin to run after a reasonable period has elapsed on the expiry of which the delivery ought to have been made
The words when the goods ought to be delivered can only mean the reasonable time taken in the absence of any term in the contract from which the time can be inferred expressly or impliedly in the carriage of the goods from the place of despatch to the place of destination
Take the case where the cause of action is based on delay in delivering the goods
In such a case the goods have been delivered and the claim is based on the delay caused in the delivery
Obviously the question of delay can only be decided on the basis of what would be the reasonable time for the arriage of goods from the place of despatch to the place of destination
Any time taken over and above that would be a else of delay
Therefore when we consider the interpretation of these words in the third column with respect to the case of non delivery they must mean the same thing namely the reasonable time taken for the carriage of goods from the place of despatch to the place of destination
The view therefore taken by some of the High Courts that the time begins from the date when the railway finally refuses to deliver cannot be correct for the words in the third column of article 31 are incapable of being interpreted as meaning the final refusal of the carrier to deliver 1  2   76 79
420 With respect it is rather difficult to understand how the subsequent correspondence between the railway and the consignor or the consignee can make any difference to the starting point of limitation when that correspondence only showed that the railway was trying to trace the goods
The period that might be taken in tracing the goods can have no relevance in determining the reasonable time that is required for the carriage of the goods from the place of despatch to the place of destinations
 The ratio is twofold viz 1 not when the final refusal to deliver but when the reasonable time for delivery has elapsed does limitation start 2 correspondence stating that efforts are being made to trace the goods cannot postpone the triggering of limitation
Of course reasonable  time is a relative factor and representation by the Railway inducing the plaintiff not to sue may amount to estoppel or waiver in special circumstances
We are inclined to confine Bootamal to the specific words of article 39
The discussion discloses the influence of the words in columns 1 and 3 on the conclusion rendering it risky to expand its operation
Section 87 speaks only of the accrual of the cause
The cause is the grievance which is generated by nondelivery
But can it be said that it is unreasonable not to be aggrieved by non delivery if the Board credibly holds out that delivery will shortly be made and vigorous search for the goods is being made amidst the enormous miscellany of consignments lying pell mell within the Port Do you put yourself in peril of losing your right by behaving reasonably and believing the Board to be a responsible body  We think not
We are not impressed by the argument based on Bootamal and the train of decisions following it under the Railways Act
The rulings of this Court in Union of India vs Amar Singh1 Governor General in Council vs Musaddi Lal2 and Jetumull Bhojrai vs The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway Co3 relate to the Limitation Act and the Railways Act  and while public carriers and Port authorities may in many respect bear similar responsibility the limitation law applicable is different
May be some uniformity is desirable in this area of law
But we have to go by the language of section 87 and not be deflected by analogy drawn from the Railways Act or Limitation Act with noticeable variations
Never the less one of the legal lines harshly but neatly drawn in Bootamal lends some certainty to the from when  of limitation by eliminating an impertinence letters informing that search for the goods is under way
The snag is in linking this proffer of search to the vital ingredient in the accrual of the cause 
If as Bootamal has correctly highlighted the tracing process is after the cause  is complete it is irrelevant to procrastinate limitation
This is the wider contribution of that decision to this blurred branch of the law
So much so sheafs of letters from the Port officials that the landed goods are being tracted out or searched for are impotent to alter the date from when the crucial six months  race with time be gins
Once limitation starts nothing not the most tragic events can interrupt it for the moving hand writes and having writ 1  2  3 1963 2 SCE 832
421 moves on not all thy tears nor piety can lure it back to cancel half a line 
This implacable start is after the accrual of the cause  which is when non delivery or non tender takes place
That event is fixed with reference to reasonable lapse of time after the unloading of the goods
Thus if the search is to find out whether the goods have landed at all it is integral and anterior to the cause  but if it be to trace what has definitely been discharged into the port it is de linked from the cause a la Bootamal
Such an approach reduces the variables and stops the evils of fluctuation of limitation
It is easy to fix when the vessel has discharged the goods into the port by looking into the tally sheet or other relevant documents prescribed in the bye laws
This part of the tracing cannot take long although it is regrettable and negligent for the Bombay Port officials to have taken undue time to give the plaintiffs even this information
On the contrary search for the missing but landed goods in the warehouses and sheds and open spaces can be a wild goose chase honestly or as long as the consignee or port officials with dishonestly
Reasonable diligence will readily give the consignee information of landing of his goods
In the major port cities warehousing facilities are expensive and difficult to procure so that a consignee of considerable goods may manage to get free warehousing space within the port for as long as he wants by inducing for illicit consideration the port officials to issue letters that the goods are being traced out
This is a vice which adds to the sinister uncertainty of the terminus a quo if we accept the plea that every letter from the port authorities that the missing goods are being traced out has the effect of postponing limitation
We wish to make it clear however that the event which is relevant being the discharge of the goods from the ship into the port the bailment begins when the Board takes charge of the goods and a necessary component of the cause in section 87 of the Act is the knowledge of the owner that the goods have landed
One small but significant argument of the Solicitor General remains to be noticed
In the search for what is the reasonable time for delivery by the bailee a pragmatic or working rules is suggested by him which we think merits consideration
When a large consignment is entrusted with the Board and the bulk of it is delivered on a particular date it ordinarily follows that the reasonble time for the delivery of the missing part of the consignment also fell on that date
There may be exceptional circumstances whereby some items in the consignment might not have been unloaded from the ship by mistake or might be stored by error in a wrong shed mixed up with other goods so that they are not deliverable readily or a substantial part of the goods has been taken delivery of and by the time the balance is sought to be removed a bandh or strike or other physical obstruction prevents taking delivery
Apart from these recondite possibilities which require to be specially proved by him who claims that limitation has not started it is safe to conclude that the date for delivery of the 422 non delivered part of the consignment is the same as that when a good part of it was actually delivered
The ruling in Trustees of the Port of Mad as vs Union of India cited by Shri Cooper in this context is good in parts
The learned judges were dealing with the short delivery by the Madras Port Trust
While pointing out that attempts made by the Port Trust to locate the goods would be no answer to the claim for delivery made by the consignee the Court held that the date when limitation starts in such cases is when a certificate that the missing packages are not available Shedmaster s certificate C  is issued
While it is correct to say that alleged attempts by the Port officials to locate the goods which have definitely landed has no bearing on the cause it is equally incorrect to hold that till the certificate that the non delivered package is not forthcoming limitation does not begin
The true test as we have earlier pointed out is to find out when delivery should have been made in the normal course subject to the fact of discharge from the ship to the port of the relevant goods and the knowledge about that fact by the consignee
In Union of India vs Jutharam1 a single Judge of that High Court took the view that when part of the goods sent in one consignment was not delivered it is right to hold that it should have reasonably been delivered on the same day the delivery of the other part took place
The date of delivery of part of the consignment must be deemed to be the starting point of limitation
This approach has our broad approval
In Union of India vs Vithalsa Kisansa  Co2 a single Judge of Bombay High Court while emphasizing that what is reasonable time for delivery may depend upon the circumstances of each case the point was made if the correspondence between the bailee and the consignee disclosed anything which may amount to an acknowledgment of the liability of the carrier that would give a fresh starting point of limitation
even as
if the correspondence discloses material which may throw light on the question of determining the reasonable time for delivery the Court may take into account that correspondence but not subsequent letters relating only to the tracing of the goods
This statement of law although made in the context of a public carrier s liability applies also to the Port Trust
In short there is force in the plea that normally the date for delivery of the missing packages should be deemed to be the same as the date when another part of the consignment was actually delivered
We thus come to the end of the case and may formulate our conclusions as clearly as the complex of facts permits
1 Section 87 of the Acts insists on notice of one month
This period may legitimately be tacked on to the six month period mentioned in the section vide Sec
152 
2 The starting point of limitation is the accrual of the cause of action
Two components of the cause are important
The date 1 AIR 1968 Pat
2 AIR 1971 Bom
423 when the plaintiff came to know or ought to know with reasonable diligence that the goods had been landed from the vessel into the port
Two clear though not conclusive indications of when the consignee ought to know are 1 when the bulk of the goods are delivered there being short delivery leading to a suit ii 7 days after knowledge of the landing of the goods suggested in Sec
Whichever is the later date ordinarily sets off the running of Limitation
3 Letters or assurances that the missing packages are being searched for cannot enlarge limitation once the goods have landed and the owner has come to know of it
To rely on such an unstable date as the termination of the search by the bailee is apt to make the law uncertain the limitation liable to manipulation and abuses of other types to seep into the system
4 Section 87 is attracted not merely when an act is committed but also when an omission occurs in the course of the performance of the official duty
The act omission complex if it has a nexus to the official functions of the Board and its officers attracts limitation under section 87
Judged by these working rules the present case has to be decided against the plaintiffs
For one thing the short delivery of one bundle of steel plates is an integral part of the delivery of the consignment by the port authorities to the consignee in the discharge of their official functions as statutory bailee
Section 87 of the Act therefore applies
The delivery of the bulk of the consignment took place on September 19 1959 and more than seven months had passed after that before the institution of the suit
Of course a later date namely November 7 1959 Ext A  clearly brings to the ken of the plaintiff the fact that the missing bundle has been duly landed in the port
It is true that the enquiry section of the Bombay Port Trust Docks did not even as late as December 4 1959 give a definite reply about the outturn for this item
On December 5 1959 the first plaintiff brought to the notice of the Board that the above mentioned bundle has been landed and they agents of the vessel hold receipt from you the Board
The plaintiffs made an enquiry Whether the bundle has been landed if landed let the information regarding the whereabouts and if not confirm the short landings Further reminders by the plaintiffs proved fruitless till It last on January 22
1960 the port officer concerned wrote  I beg to inform you that the bundle under reference has been outturned as Landed but missing It was contended that the plaintiffs for certain came to know of the landing of the missing bundle only on January 22 1960
We are unable to accept this plea because the first plaintiff had already got the information as early as November 7 1959 about the due landing of the missing item from the Indian Maritime Enterprises
Nothing has been suggested before us as to why this knowledge of the plaintiff should be discarded
The subsequent correspondence between the port officers and the plaintiffs was more for getting requisite documents
424 to follow up legal proceedings against the insurer by the consignee
In this view the starting point of limitation arose on November 7 1959 and the suit was instituted on June 18 1960 a little over 10 days beyond the period of limitation
The plaintiffs thus missed the bus and we regret to decide on this technical point that the suit is liable to be dismissed but we must
A faint plea that the Board is not a person  falling with in section 87 was suggested by Sri Cooper but its fate if urged is what overtook a similar contention before a Bench of the Madras High Court in Trustees of the Port of Madras vs Home Insurance Co1 dismissal without a second thought
It is surprising that a public body like the Port Trust should have shown remissne in handling the goods of consignees and in taking effective action for tracing the goods
It is seen that while there is a special police station inside the port called the Yellow Gate Police Station with six or seven officers and 200 policemen for duty by day and with about 400 policemen for duty by night the port authorities did not care to report to the police till December 16 1959
Three months is far too inordinate and inexcusable a delay for reporting about the pilferage of a vital and valuable item namely a bundle of steel plates imported from Japan by an automobile manufacturing company
While we dismiss this suit we feel that it is not enough that the State instal police stations inside the ports it must ensure diligent action by the officials and if there is delinquency or default in discharging their duties promptly and smartly disciplinary action should be taken against those concerned
In this country our major harbours are acquiring a different reputation for harbouring smugglers and pilferers and an impression has gained currency that port officials connive at these operations for consideration
Every case is an event and an index projects a conflict of rights between two entities but has a social facet being the symptom of a social legion
We consider that the Government and the public must be alerted about the unsatisfactory functioning of the ports so that delinquent officials may be proceeded against for dubious default in the discharge of their duties
It is not enough that diligence is shown in pleading limitation when honest citizens aggrieved by loss  of their goods entrusted to public bodies come to court
The responsibility of these institutions to do their utmost to prevent pilferage is implied in the legislative policy of prescribing a short period of  limitation
Another important circumstance we wish to emphasize is that ambiguity in language leading to possibilities of different constructions should not be left to the painfully long and expensive process of being settled decades later by the highest court in the land
The alternative and quicker process in a democracy of rectification by legislative amendment should be resorted to so that private citizens are not subjected to inordinate expense and delay because the legalese in a legislation reads abstruse or ambiguous
The very length of this judgment and of this litigation is eloquent testimony to the need 1 AIR 1970 Mad
425 for prompt corrective legislation on such small matters as have cropped up in the present case
Moreover some uniformity in regard to
statutory bailee s responsibilities whether they be public carriers like the Railways or strategic institutions like Ports will give the community a sense of certainty and clarity about their rights and the duties
of public bodies in charge of their goods
Counsel had drawn attention to the difficulties of the community where conflicting judicial currents aided by tricky words have made law chancy and the need for this Court to clear the ground and give
the lead
We are aware with justice Jackson of the US Supreme Court that the judicial decree however broadly worded actually binds in most instances only the parties to the case
As to others
it is merely a weather vane showing which way the judicial wind is blowing 
The direction of the wind
in this branch of law is as we have projected
We are of the view in reiteration of earlier expression on the same lines that public bodies should resist the temptation to take technical pleas or defeat honest claims by legally permissible but marginally unjust contentions including narrow limitation
In this and similar cases where a public carrier dissuades private parties from suing by its promises of search for lost articles and finally pleads helplessness it is doubtful morality to non suit solely on grounds of limitation a plaintiff who is taken in by seemingly responsible representation only to find himself fooled by his credibility
Public institutions convict themselves of untrustworthiness out of their own mouth by resorting to such defences
What should be the proper direction for
costs  Both the parties arc public sector bodies
But the principle which must guide us has to be of general application
Here is a small claim which is usually associated with the little man and when as in this test action the litigation escalates to the final court wafted by a legal nicety his financial back is broken in a bona fide endeavour to secure a declara tion of the law that binds all courts in the country for the obvious benefit of the whole community
The fact that the case has gained special leave under article 136 is prima facie proof of the general public importance of the legal issue
The course of this litigation proves that the fine but decisive point of law enmeshed in a conflict of precedents found each court reversing the one next below it almost hopefully appetising the losing party to appeal to the higher forum
The real beneficiary is the business community which now knows finally the norm of limitation they must obey
Is it fair in these circumstances that one party albeit the vanquished one should bear the burden of costs throughout for providing the occasion not provocation for laying down the correct law in a controversial situation
Faced with a similar moral legal issue Lord Reid observed  I think we must consider separately costs in this House and costs in the Court of Appeal
Cases can only come before this House with leave and leave is generally given because some general question of law is involved
In this 426 case it enabled the whole vexed matter of non est factum to be re examined
This seems to me a typical case where the costs of the successful respondent should come out of public funds
The Evershed Committee on Supreme Court Practice and Procedure had suggested in England that the Attorney General should be empowered to issue a certificate for the use of public funds in appeals to the House of Lords where issues of outstanding public importance are involved
Maybe a scheme for a suitor s fund to indemnify for costs as recommended by a Sub Committee of Justice is the answer but these are matters for the consideration of the Legislature and the Executive
We mention them to show that the law in this branch cannot be rigid
We have to make a compromise between pragmatism and equity and modify the loser pays all doctrine by exercise of a flexible discretion
The respondent in this case need not be a martyr for the cause of the certainty of law under section 87 of the Act particularly when the appellant wins on a point of limitation
The trial court had even held the appellant guilty of negligence
In these circumstances we direct that the parties do bear their costs throughout
Subject to this we allow the appeal
SC Appeal allowed
1 Gallie vs Lee
2 1048


Summary:
The first plaintiff became entitled to claim a consignment of 53 bundles of mild steel plates despatched by a Japanese exporter to be delivered at the port of Bombay
The goods were discharged in the docks on 12th September 1959 into the custody of the Bombay Port Trust the appellant
The goods were insured and the second plaintiff was the insurer
On September 19 1959 delivery of the goods was applied for and was given but only 52 bundles
A week thereafter the first plaintiff demanded the missing bundle but was put off from time to time by the appellant assuring that a search was in progress to trace the goods
From the Indian Maritime Enterprises the agents of the Japanese vessel the plaintiff came to know on November 7 1959 that all the 53 bundles had been duly unloaded
The plaintiff enquired from the appellant again on December 5 1959 whether the bundle had been landed but the port authorities still informed that the missing bundle was still under search
Thereafter on January 22 1960 the appellant informed the first plaintiff that the bundle under reference had been out turned as landed but missing
Within a week thereafter the first plaintiff asked for a non delivery certificate and the certificate was issued on March 1 1960 and on May 12 1960 a statutory notice under section 87 of the Bombay Port Trust Act 1879 was issued and a suit was filed for the missing bundle or its value by way of damages
The defence put forward by the appellant was that since the suit was governed by section 87 of the Act and the cause of action having arisen on September 19 1959 the claim is barred by limitation because 6 months had already passed from the time the first cause of action arose
The second plaintiff insurer having paid the value of the lost articles to the first plaintiff got itself subrogated to the later s right and they together filed the suit before the Court of Small Causes
That Court held against the appellant but the full Court in appeal reversed the judgment of the trial court and held in favour of the appellant holding that the claim was barred by limitation
The High Court however held in favour of the plaintiff and hence the appeal to this Court
Section 87 of the Bombay Port Trust Act 1879 provides that no suit or other proceeding shall be commenced against any person for anything done or purporting to have been done in pursuance of this Act without one month s previous notice and not after 6 months from the accrual of the cause of such suit or other proceeding
The question was whether the suit was for anything done or purporting to have been done in pursuance of this Act when the action is for non delivery of one out of 53 bundles
Allowing the appeal HELD  1 Where a statute imposes a duty the omission to do something that ought to be done in order completely to perform the duty or the continuing to have any such duty unperformed amounts to an act done or intended to be done within the meaning of a statute which provides a special period of limitation for such an act
403 H 404 A Halsburys Laws of England 3rd Ed
Vol  referred to
Therefore in the present case the truncated limitation prescribed under the Act will apply
415 E 13 L 954 SupCI74 398 2Sec
87 of the Act insists on notice of one months This period may legitimately be tacked on to the six months period mentioned in the section vide sec
152 
422 G H 3 The starting point of limitation is the accrual of the cause of action
Two components of the Cause are Important
The date when the plaintiff came to know or ought to know with reasonable diligence that the goods had been landed from the vessel into the port
Two clear indications of when the consignee ought to know are  1 when the bulk of the goods are delivered there being short delivery leading to a suit and 2 7 days after knowledge of he landing of the goods suggested in Sec
Whichever is the later date ordinarily sets off the running of limitation
422 H 423 B 4 Utters of assurance cannot enlarge the limitation once the goods have landedand the owner has come to know of it
423 B C 5 Sec 87 is attracted not merely when an act is committed but also when a omission occurs in the course of the performance of the official duty
1423C D In the present case applying the above principles the case has to be decided against the plaintiffs and the appeal is allowed
423D