Failing to obtain satisfaction 649 for the loss suffered by him, the respondent served a composite notice under section 77 of the Indian Railways Act and section 80 of the Civil Procedure Code on December 7, 1943, and thereafter on May 18, 1944, filed suit No. 283 of 1944 in the court of the 11 Munsif, Bulandshahr, for a decree for Rs. 782 3 6 being the " price of the bale " and Rs. 200 " for loss on account of nondelivery." The railway administration resisted the claim on the pleas among others that the suit was not maintainable without an effective notice under a. 77 of the Railways Act and that the suit was barred because at the date of the institution of the suit, the period of limitation prescribed by article 31 of the Limitation Act had expired.