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There is good reason for this. By issuing the credit, the banker does not only enter into a contractual obligation to his own customer, the buyer, to honour the seller's drafts if they are accompanied by the specifed documents. By confrming the credit to the seller through his corespondent at the place of shipment he assumes a contractual obligation to the seller that his drafts on the correspondent bank will be accepted if accompanied by the specifed documents, and a contractual obligation to reimburse it for accepting the seller's drafts. The banker is not concerned as to whether the SUIT4651-1999.DOC documents for which the buyer has stipulated serve any useful commercial purpose or as to why the customer called for tender of a document of a particular description. Both the issuing banker and his corespondent bank have to make quick decisions as to whether a document which has been tendered by the seller to one or other of the parties to the transaction if the decision is wrong. Delay in deciding may in itself result in a breach of his contractual obligations to the buyer or to the seller. This is the reason for the rule that where the banker's instructions from his customer are ambiguous or unclear he commits no breach of his contract with the buyer if he has construed them in a reasonable sense, even though upon the closer consideration which can be given to questions of construction in an action in a court of law, it is possible to say that some other meaning is to be preferred.

SUIT4651-1999.DOC It is elementary to say that a person who ships in reliance on a letter of credit must do so in exact compliance with its terms. It is also elementary to say that a bank is not bound or indeed entitled to honour drafts presented to it under a letter of credit unless those drafts with the accompanying documents are in strict accord with the credit as opened.
(f) We agree that you or your offcers or a nominated bank or any person frm or company who shall make any payment or accept any bill of exchange in consequence of any such credit shall only be bound to examine with reasonable care the drafts and documents issued under any such credit to ascertain that they appear on their face to be in accordance with the terms and conditions of the credit and that in particular but without in any way limiting the foregoing neither you nor any such offcer, person frm or company nor a nominated bank shall be responsible for: 
        (i)     .........
        (ii)    .........
        (iii)   .........
        (iv)    .........
        (v)     .........
(p) On no account shall any claim be made against the Bank after the draft has been accepted or paid by us."

60. From a bare perusal of the aforesaid stipulations, it becomes evident that under Clause (d) the plaintiff had undertaken to indemnify the Bank against the costs, damages, expenses, claims and demands in respect of the issue of the credit and make available the funds to meet all the payments made thereunder along with interest, charges and commissions etc. In Clause (e) the plaintiff authorised the defendant Bank to SUIT4651-1999.DOC debit any of its accounts with the Bank with all moneys for which the Bank was required to pay for the said credit facility. Clause (f) reiterated that the plaintiff acknowledged that the Bank's liability was only to examine with reasonable care the drafts and documents issued under any such credit to ascertain that they appeared on their face to be in accordance with the terms and conditions of the credit and not hold the Bank responsible for the underlying contract, genuineness and validity of the documents etc. Clause (p) precluded the plaintiff from laying any claim against the Bank after the draft has been accepted or paid by the plaintiff.