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1. All these appeals and revisions preferred against the judgments of different Courts in the State raise a common question relation to liability of the Railway administration for the loss of goods occasioned in the circumstances that will appear presently, and so could be disposed of in one judgment.

2. Appeals Nos. 370/1955, 575/1957, 15, 70, 38 and 37 of 1958 deal with O. S. Nos. 109 and 113 of 1953 and 52 to 55 of 1954 on the file of the Subordinate Judge, Narsapur, while A. S. Nos. 369/1957, 241/1959, 250/1959 and 169/1958 are against the judgments of the Subordinate Judge, Kakinada in O. S. Nos 154/1933, 63/1954, 74/1955 and 6/1956, S. A. Nos. 502, 913 and 914 of 1957 are preterred against judgments in A. S Nos. 359/1955 (Sub-Court, Eluru) and 55 and 56 of 1955 (Sub-Court, Narsapur) respectively. S. C. Nos. 405, 287, 285, 286 and 646 of 1953 and 155 and 294/1954 have given rise to C. R. P. Nos 1118/1954 and 886, 888 and 889 of 1959 and 1361 of 1956 and 1029 and 1374 of 1957 respectively.

4. Several consignments of cotton piece goods were booked in the last week of November and the first week of December of 1952, from Wadi-Bunder, Erode, Madurai, Madras and some other stations on the southern and central Railways to Palakol, Tanuku, Rajahmundry, Bhimavaram, Narsapur and Kakinada. On the 15th of December, 1952, some bales of cotton goods were consigned at Bezwada to be transmitted to Palakol. Goods of other descriptions were also entrusted to the Railway administration on different dates in the months of November and December, 1952 and in one or two cases in the latter half of October also at some of the stations in the Southern and Central Railways for despatch and carriage to some of the stations mentioned above.

11. These answers obliged the consignees of the goods to bring actions for the recovery of goods or compensation for the loss thereof in the Courts mentioned above.

12. Many of the suits which were filed in the District Munsif's Court of Narsapur were transferred to the Subordinate Judge's Court, Narsapur, to be tried along with O. S. Nos. 109 and 113 of 1953 and 19/1954 and suiis filed in the Munsif's Court of Kakinada and Rajahmundry were transferred to the Sub-Court, Kakinada, to be tried along with O. S. No. 154/1953 at the request of the parties. These suits were resisted inter alia on the defence that the loss or destruction of the goods, whose value was claimed by the parties, was due to the extraordinary events which occurred on the 16th of December, 1952 which could not be foreseen and which could not be prevented and hence the defendants had not incurred any liability in that behalf. We are unconcerned with other answers of the defendants as the only point that was debated before us was about the responsibility or the administration in the circumstances indicated above.

13. The Subordinate Judge of Narsapur, while decreeing O. S. Nos. 109 and 119 of 1953 and 52 to 55 of 1954, S. C. Nos. 285 and 286 of 1953 dismissed O. S. Nos. 19 and 50 of 1954 and S. C. No. 287/1933 (O. S. No. 53/19,54 was partly decreed and partly dismissed). He found that the railway administration exonerated itself so far as the consignments that were reloaded into wagons which were rivetted and sealed were concerned as the misfortune occurred for reasons beyond the control of the ad ministration. The decrees granted against the defendants were in respect of bales of cotton goods which were allowed to be on the transhipment platform being of opinion that the administration did not give effective protection in regard thereto and they could not, therefore, bring themselves within the protection of Section 152 of the Indian Contract Act.