Southern Railways And Another
v.
The Railway Rates Tribunal And Others
(High Court Of Judicature At Madras)
Writ Petition No. 961 & 1007 Of 1953 | 20-09-1954
(1) Both these petitions filed under Art. 226 Constitution are directed against the Railway Tribunal in respect of their proceedings plaint filed by a firm called the Engineering supplies Co., Bombay, who carry on business cast iron pipes, among other things, against Railways and the Central Railways under Ss 28 and 41(1), Railways Act 1890.
(2) The principal iron and steel manufacturing of India are Bhadravati in My sore and Burnpur and Tatanagar in Bihar and Bengal, is the place where the factory of Bengal Steel Company is situated. The railways quoting special rates for the transport or pipes to various cities and towns in the for over .20 years. From 15-10-1949, the full tariff rate for cast iron pipes from Bhadravati to was Re. 1-15-1, but the special rate being WAS Re. 1-3-6. The full tariff rate from 1 Bombay was Rs. 3-3-8 from 15-10-1949,] special rate being charged was Re. 1-6-1 rate was, however, cancelled from 1-4-1952 complainant who imports cast iron pipes from Bhadravati to Bombay and other stations ed to the railway that there was an undue shown for Bisco, which was in contravention S. 28, Railways Act.
The firm also applied to the railways a special station to station rate from Bhadravati to Kalyan and Ambarnath, intermediate between Bhadravati and Bombay. As no relief from the railways, they filed Several- reliefs were claimed by the firm, namely, that reduced station to may be fixed for the carriage of cast iron pipes from Bhadravati to Bombay on the basis of the same percentage reduction or maund mile return the Bisco Bombay rate, and from Bhadravati to badlapur , Ambarnath and Kalyan on and consequential basis, that it should that so long as the special rate from I bay and from Bhadravati to Bombay, other stations remained in force, that 1952, the refusal to quote new station to station rates and the rate charged to the unreasonable and contravened S. 28 . and that the excess sum collected fro the compliment by the railways for traffic from Bhadravati to Bombay from 15-10-1949 and from Ambarnath and Kalyan from January1951 may be re funded, and that it should be declared that the cancellation of the special rate from to Poona for cast iron pipes also and the charging of the rate of Re. 1-9-7 pipes as "against Re. 1-1-11 for all other articles of Iron and Steel, Division B, contravene the Act, and that the said cancellation to be withdrawn and proper station from Bhadravati to Poona, Badlapur and Kalyan should he fixed.
The railways pleaded that the compliment was not entitled to any of the reliefs sought. Another firm Messrs. Hindustan Materials. Ltd., Bombay, intervened in the proceedings on the side of the compliment , and prayed for certain reliefs in res-of the rate iron Bhadravati to Bombay, from Bhadravati to Kalyan, and Ambarnath, and from Bhadravati to Poona. Several issues were framed the pleadings. The complaint was heard fully the Railway Rates Tribunal. Of the three members -of the Tribunal, the President and one o pound the members , Mr. Roy, held that the only relief the
2. was entitled to was a declaration that January 1951 the station to station rates for transport of cast iron pipes in wagon loads ex. Bhadravati to Ambarnath and Kalyan should have he then prevailing station to station rate and to Bombay plus the usual re-booking barges to Ambarnath and Kalyan respectively at the prevailing tariff rate, and that it was unreasonable part of the respondents to have refused to that rate, and to an order that station to station rates for cast iron pipes ex. Bhadravati to Ambarnath and Kalyan from the date of the filing the complaint should be quoted on the same basis
The other member, Mr. Subba Rao was of opinion - that the special rate from Bhadravati to Bombay -of Re. 1-3-6 per maund was proper and reason-lie and that it should not be cancelled, that the rate from Bhadravati to Poona which had been led should be restored, that the special rate from bhadravati to Kalyan and Ambarnath should restored and this should not be higher than the Bhadravati Bombay special rate, and that the compliment was entitled to a refund of the amount paid by them for the transport of cast iron pipes Bhadravati to Kalyan and Ambarnath in excess of the former special rate. The order of the Tribunal accordance with the view of the males, ran as follows:
"We declare that from January 1951 the station to station rates for the transport of cast iron pipes in wagon loads (RR. W/300 B. G., W/240 [M, G., W/180 N. G.) ex. Bhadravati to Ambarnath aid Kalyan should have been the then prevailing Ration to station rate ex. Bhadravati to Bombay plus the usual rebooking charges to Ambarnath and Kalyan
" respectively at the prevailing tariff rate, re order that future station to station rates iron pipes ex. Bhadravati to Ambarnath Kalyan from the date of the filing of the compliment should be quoted on the same basis. The ants claim for other relief is rejected. Parties ear their own costs." *
(3) In W. P. No. 961 of 1953 filed by the South-Railways and the Central Railways, they seek to have said order of the Tribunal quashed in as they granted a declaration from January and directed the charge of rates fixed by them a period prior to 9-10-1953, that is, the date the order. In W. P. No. 1007 of 1953, the compliment prays that the order of the Tribunal ay be quashed and set aside (1) in so far as the [Tribunal rejected the claim for excess paid, and E) in so far as the tribunal rejected the applicants claim that the rate of Re. 1-3-6 for Bhadravati to Bombay was unreasonable and contravened S. 28, Railways Act, and in so far as the Tribunal ordered that the future station to station rate for cast iron ex. Bhadravati to Ambarnath and Kalyan should be quoted from the date of the filing of the plaint. They also sought for appropriate directions-or orders of this Court (a) to make an order refund of excess freight in accordance with the decision of the Tribunal, (b) to declare that the of Re. 1-3-6 for cast iron pipes from Bhadravati- to Bombay was unreasonable and violated the visions of S. 28, Railways Act, (c) to make an order for new station to station rate to be quoted by the railways ex. Bhadravati to Ambarnath and Kalyan from January 1951, and (d) to fix the station to station rates specifically in Rupees and annals and pies,
(4) In the writ petition filed on behalf of the railways (961 of 1953) the main contention of the learned Advocate-General is that any order of the Tribunal passed on a complaint can take effect and be operative only from the date of such order. They take objection to the order in so far as it refers to dates earlier than the date of the order, namely, January 1951, and the date of the complaint, i.e., 15-2-1952. A further contention is that the Tribunal, having held by a majority that they had no jurisdiction to order a refund of any excess freight, which might have been collected by the railways, had no jurisdiction to make an order declaring that prior to the date of the order a certain rate should have been charged. Such a kind of declaration would, it was submitted, lead to further claims based on it. The learned Advocate-General, apart from relying on the provisions of the Act, also mentioned the complications and problems which might result by a retrospective readjustment of rates if the order of the Tribunal were to take effect during, and relate to a period, anterior to the date of the order. We do not think it however proper to take these factors into consideration in deciding what, after all, is a pure question of law depending on the construction of the material provisions of the Act.
(5) The powers and jurisdiction of the Railway Rates Tribunal are set out in Ss. 34 to 46-O, Rail ways Act. Section 41 provides as follows:
Complaints against a railway administration:
(1) Any complaint that a railway administration -
(a) is contravening the provisions of S. 28, or
(b) is charging station to station rates or wagon load rates which are unreasonable owing to any condition attached to them regarding minimum weight, packing, assumption of risk or any other matter, or
(c) is levying charges (other than standardised terminal charges) which are unreasonable, or
(d) is unreasonably refusing to quote a new station to station rate, or
has unreasonably placed a commodity in a higher class,
may be made to the Tribunal, and the Tribunal shall hear and decide any such complaint in accordance with the provisions of this Chapter.
(2) In the case of a complaint under Cl. (a) or sub-s. (1) -
(i) Whenever it is shown that a railway adminstration charges one trader or class of traders or the traders in any local area lower rates for the same or similar animals or goods or lower rates for the same or similar services, that it charges to other traders or classes of traders, or to the traders, in another local area, the burden of proving that such lower charge does not amount to an undue preference shall lie on the railway administration,
(ii) in deciding whether a lower charge does or does not amount to an undue preference, the Tribunal may, in addition to any other considerations affecting the case, take into consideration whether such lower charge is necessary in the interests of the public.
(3) In the case of a complaint under Cl. (d) of sub-s. (1), the Tribunal may fix a new station to station rate
(4) A complaint under this section may be made jointly against two or more railway administrations."
(6) For the purpose o pound exercising the jurisdiction conferred on it, the Tribunal may pass such final and interim orders as the circumstances may require, including orders for the payment of costs, H shall be the duty of the Central Government or the State Government concerned on whom any obligation is imposed by any order of the Tribunal to carry it out (S. 39). Under S. 42, the Tribunal i given a special power to reclassify any commodity in a higher class on the application of the Central Government. The Tribunal as well as the Central Government have the power to reclassify any commodity in a lower class. Section 28 mentioned in S. 41(l)(a) runs thus:
"Prohibition of undue preference:
A railway administration shall not make or give any undue or unreasonable preference or advantage to, or in favour of, any particular person or railway administration, or any particular description of traffic, in any respect whatsover, or subject any particular person or railway administration or any particular description of traffic to any undue or unreasonable prejudice or disadvantage in any respect whatsoever." *
(7) The Question raised by the learned Advocate- General on behalf of the railways as to the competency of the Tribunal to make any declarations or grant any relief in respect of a period anterior to their final order has to be decided entirely on the implications of the language of the material provisions of the Act. In our opinion, the clearest indication on this point is to be found in the tense used in S. 41(1) of the Act. In Cls. (a) to (d), the complaints are, contravening the provisions of S. 28, charging unreasonable station to station rates or wagon loads rates, levying unreasonable charges, or unreasonably refusing to quote a new station to station rate. The language is not "had contravened the provisions of S. 28" or "had charged unreasonable rates or charges" or "had unreasonably refused to quote a new station to station rate". The injury contemplated is an injury subsisting on the date of the complaint.
Even Cl. (e) contemplates a similar complaint, the complaint being that the railway administration has unreasonably placed a commodity in a higher class, Implying that it continues to be so placed on the date of the complaint. On this language, it is clear that though the railway administration might have contravened the provisions of S. 28 or charged or levied unreasonable rates or charges, during some period before the complaint, yet if on the date of the complaint they have ceased to do so, no complaint can be made under S. 41(1). In this respect, the Tribunals jurisdiction is much more narrow and restricted than the jurisdiction of an ordinary Court. Take, for instance, a case in which a local body has levied an illegal tax. The person who is aggrieved by such imposition can, within the prescribed time limit, file an action and recover the tax collected from him. It may be that for subsequent periods the local body has ceased to impose such illegal levies. Nevertheless, the Court can go into the question whether the tax, which had been levied was lawfully imposed. The Court can, in such a case, give both a declaratory relief as well as relief by way of refund. Learned counsel for the complainant conceded this position.
The question then is whether in a case in which there has been a charging of unreasonable rates from a time, long or short, before the date of the complaint and such charging has continued up to (he date of the complaint, the Tribunal can grant a declaration relating to a period before the date of its order. If the Tribunal can, the question then will arise, is there any limit to that period
Can the Tribunal grant a declaration that the, which were being collected, say from 1920 or i: 1930, were unreasonable Obviously, there is thing in the Act to impose any time limit. In opinion, this circumstance itself rather goes to show that it could not have been contemplated that Tribunal can grant declarations of the unreasonableness of any rate in respect of periods in event, before the date of the filing of the compliment. The learned Advocate-General stress on the laid that the rates being; charged by the railway administration could in no sense deemed to be illegal rates, merely because d complaint the Tribunal might hold that the are unreasonable. He submitted that it cannot said that the railway administration had been charging rates unlawfully or without due authority it is only when the Tribunal found a particular rate is unreasonable or that a particular rate the provisions of S. 28 that the railway; administrations is obliged to refrain from charging rate. Such a rate Till than ,there is no legal imp charging of such rates. We see considerable in this argument of the learned Ad We, however, do not agree with him namely, that the order of the Tribunal c operate in future, that is, from and a of the order. In our opinion, the order a Tribunal can well become effective from of the complaint. The finding of the Tribunal is it in favour of the complainant, would mean that the complainant was entitled to relief on the day on which on which he made the complaint. The for reasons beyond the complaints control, the tribunal takes time to hear and decide the and pass final orders thereon, should not adversely affect him
The learned Advocate-General described to us some inconvenient consequences of this view said that the railways may have to refund ex cess over and above the rates fixed by the Tribunal We are not now dealing with the question weather the tribunal itself can order such a refund or weather a refund becomes incumbent in any other manner. We fail to see how this circumstance prevent the application of the general rule that the final order or judgment in a case should back to the date of the filing of the plaint or complaint, In practice, we can well imagine the Tribunal making an interim order that the railways may continue to charge the rates in force, subject to an undertaking to refund to the complainant excess, if any, which might be collected from him after the final determination by the Tribunal all this, of course, would only arise with reference to the particular complainant. So far as other are concerned, the order of the Tribunal would only operate from the date of the order. This under S. 39 it is the duty of the (central Government to carry out any obligation imposed by an order of the Tribunal.
(8) Learned counsel for the complainant Thyagarajan, rested his case mainly on what he described as the wide language of S. 3
9. Un section, the Tribunal, he said, can pass s orders as the circumstances may require his argument, indeed, based on this section: goes beyond the grant of a mere declaration for an anterior period. It goes to the extent of a power in the Tribunal to even order refund of the amounts collected by the railways over and above the rates as finally fixed by the tribunal. In answer to our question as to the period for which such an order for refund could be made, learned counsel unable to give an adequate answer. He could only fall back on the words "as the or circumstances May require". On this question, there was a difference
of opinion among the members of the Tribunal, the President and one of the members taking the view that the Tribunal has no power to make an order, of refund the other member taking a different view-
(9) Our attention was drawn to the legislation in Britain the United States, dealing with similar matters and reference was also made to decisions and American Courts, which however, turned on the language of the particular enactment concerned . In England, the earliest Act on the feet appear to be 8 and 9 Viet. c. 20, the Rail-ways Clauses Consolidation Act. Section 90 of that embodied what is often referred to as the "equality clause", that is, it provided that tolls shall be charged equally to all persons, and after the same rate, whether per ton per mile or otherwise ,in respect of all goods or carriages of the same des-cription, and conveyed or propelled by a like carriage or engine, passing only over the same portion of the line of railway under the same circumstances and no reduction or advance shall be made in any such tolls either directly or indirectly in favour of or against any one using the railway. There was however, no special tribunal appointed to enforce provision.
Section 2, Railway and Canal Traffic Act, 1854 (17 and 18 Viet. c. 3I) provided inter alia that no railway company shall make or give any undue or reasonable preference or advantage to or in favour in any particular person or company of any particular description of traffic in any respect whatever. This is sometimes referred to as the "undue preference clause". Section 3 specifically conferred a right on any company or person complaining aganist any railway company of any violation or contravention of this provision to seek redress in a Court of law. But the jurisdiction of the Court on such a complaint was limited, for that section only Provided that
"it shall be lawful for such Court or Judge to issue a writ of injunction or interdict, restraining h company or companies from further continuing-such violation or contravention of this Act, and enjoining obedience to the same." *
By 6, Regulation of Railways Act, 1873 (36 and Viet. C. 48) the jurisdiction of the Court was referred to the Railway Commissioners. But the extent of the jurisdiction was identical with that the Courts had under the Act of 1854, that to say, the jurisdiction was confined to the issue of an injunction or interdict. Under S. 8, Railway and Canal Traffic Act, 1888 (51 and 52 Viet. C 25)the jurisdiction and powers, which were vested in the Railway Commissioners, were transferred to and vested in the railway and canal commission, newly established by that Act. Section 12 of this Act for first lime conferred power on the commission to award damages including repayment of Over-charges That section ran thus:
"Where the Commissioners have jurisdiction to hear and determine any matter, they may, in addition-to or in substitution for any other relief, award any complaining party who is aggrieved such damages : as they find him to have sustained; and such award of damages shall be in complete satisfaction of any claim for damages, including repayment of overcharges, which, but for this Act, such party would have had by reason of the matter of complaint. Provided .that such damages shall not be awarded unless complaint has been made to the commissioners within one year . from the discovery by the party aggrieved of the matter complained of. Commissioners may ascertain the amount of p damages either by trial before themselves, or by directing an inquiry to be taken before one or more of themselves or before some officer of their Court
(10) Before the enactment of this provision, it had been held sometimes that an action for money had and received could be brought by a person who had been charged in contravention of S. 90 of the Act of 1845 or of S. 2 of the Act of 1854, to recover the amount of overcharges paid by such, person though there were doubts expressed whether such right of action would exist under the Act of 185
4. In - G. W. Rly. Co. v. Sutton, (1869) 4 H. L. 226 at p. 238 (A) referring to S. 90 of the Act of 1845, Blackburn J. observed:
"I think it appears from the preamble of the 90th section of the Railways Clauses Consolidation Act, 1845, that the Legislature was of opinion that the changed state of things arising from the general use of railways made it expedient to impose an obligation on railway companies acting as carriers beyond what is imposed on a carrier at common law. And if this be borne in mind, I think the construction of the proviso for equality is clear, and is, that the defendant may, subject to the limitations in their special Acts charge what they think fit, but not more to one person than they, during the same time, charge to others under the same circumstances. And I think it follows from this that if the defendants do charge more to one person than they charge to others, the charge is, by virtue of the statute, extortionate; and I think that the rights and remedies of a person made to pay a charge beyond the limit of equality imposed by the statute on railway companies acting as carriers on their line must be precisely the same as those of a person made to pay a charge beyond the limit imposed by the Common Law on ordinary carriers as being more than was reasonable." *
In - L. & N. W. Rly. Co. v. Evershed, 1876 (3) AC 1029 (B), both S. 90 of the Act of 1845 as well as S. 2 of the Act of 1854 were invoked, and a person paying a rate which offended against both these provisions was held to be entitled to recover back in an action for money had and received the difference he .had paid under protest. Lord Black -burn treated the question as settled by the decision in (1869) 4 H. L. 226 (A). The proposition which he reaffirmed was that
"money extorted by inequality of charge was to be recovered in exactly the same way as if it had been money extorted by making an unreasonable charge, that is to say, by an. action for money had and received." *
In - Alex ander Murray v. Glasgow and S. W. Rly. Co., 4 R. & Con. Traff Cas. 456 (C), a different note was struck by the Court of Session. It was there held that undue preference within the meaning of S. 2 of the Act of 1854 would not sustain an action at law for its infringement. The Lord President said:
"The conclusion, therefore at which I have arrived is, that an action to recover damages or to seek pecuniary redress for a contravention of the second section of the Act of 1854 will not lie." *
The Lord President distinguished the case in 1876 (3) AC 1029 (B) on the ground that it should be treated only authority on the Act of 1845. In Denaby Main Colliery Co. v. Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Rly. Co., 1886 (11) AC 97 at 112 (D), Lord Halsbury L. C. expressed a doubt on the point, though it was not necessary to decide the question. The noble Lord said:
"I think it unnecessary to consider whether it is accurate to assume that no cause of action could arise out of the breach of the second section of the Act of 185
4. It may well be that no application to any Court other than the Railway Commission for a relief against a breach of. that section is permitted by the Act. It may be that no action will
lie expressly for a breach of that section, but it is a matter for consideration (and I wish to reserve my right to consider it if the question should here after arise) whether a railway company, having committed a breach of that section, and having in committing that breach extorted money for carriage which by law they were not entitled, the ordinary remedies at law for extortion may not be applicable.
(11) We are not concerned in this case to decide the question whether an action would lie in a. Court of law for the recovery of any overcharges made in contravention of the Railways Act and whether any decision of the Tribunal on the complaint made to them would furnish the aggrieved party with a cause of action. That question will have to be dealt with when it arises when the effect of S. 26, Indian Railways Act may also have to be considered. That section says that except as provided in the Act, no suit shall be instituted or proceeding taken for anything done or any omission made by a railway administration in violation or contravention of any provision of Chap. V. All that we. can gather from the statute law of England as interpreted in the decisions is that a special tribunal corresponding to the Railways Rates Tribunal here can have jurisdiction and power to award damages or refund overcharges only when such jurisdiction and power are conferred by a specific statutory provision. In the absence of such a specific provision, any remedy which the aggrieved party would have can only be at Common law.
(12) The provisions in the Interstate Commerce Act in the United States does not carry us any further than this, for there is specific provision there for the award of damages. Section 2 prohibits and declares unlawful unjust discrimination in the charge of rates, and S. 3 prohibits undue or unreasonable preference or advantage to any particular person or company or firm, etc. Section 8 expressly enacts that a common carrier will be liable to the person injured by anything done which had been prohibited by the provisions of the Act for the full amount of damages . sustained in consequence of any such violation of the provisions. Section 9 confers on the aggrieved party the right to recover such damages in one of two ways, namely, either by complaint to the Interstate Commerce Commission, or by suit in any Court of competent jurisdiction. Only, the party is compelled to elect in each case which one of the two methods of procedure he would adopt. There are no provisions in the Indian Railways . Act which has given similar power to the Railway Rates Tribunal or a similar right to the aggrieved person.
(13) Reference may be made to one fact on which some, reliance was placed by the President of the Tribunal in construing S. 39 of the Act, namely, the difference in the language of S. 196(3), Government of India Act, 1935, defining the powers , of the ..Railway Tribunal which was contemplated : to be constituted under S. 196(1). That section, in; so far as it is material for our purpose, ran thus;
"The Tribunal may make such orders including interim orders, orders varying or discharging a direction or order of the authority, orders for the payment of compensation or damages and of costs .....as the circumstances of the case may require
in S. 39, the power to make orders for the payment of compensation or damages is omitted and the omission is not without significance. We agree with the learned President that so far as it goes this fact supports the view which the majority of the Tribunal took, and with which we agree, namely, that S. 39 does not confer a power on the Tribunal to make an order for payment of compensation or damages or make an order of refund of overcharges.
(14) In W. P. No. 1007 of 1953, filed by complainants, their learned counsel pressed us three points. The first is that the has the power to make an order for refund overcharges. This we have already dealt He next contended that the Tribunal in not fixing the station to station rate under S. (1) at a definite figure. It may be recalled what the Tribunal did was to declare that the station to station rates ex Bhadravati to Ambernath and Kalyan should be the then prevailing station to station rate ex. Bhadravati to Bombay plus the usual re-booking charges to Ambernath and Kalyan respectively at. the prevailing tariff rate. The objection on behalf of the complainant is that the Tribunal should not have fixed what will be a fluctuating rate depending on the other rates but have fixed a definite rate; in other words, he said what the Tribunal is empowered to fix is a not a formula. We see no substance in this contention. Consistent with their reasoning, Tribunal very properly fixed a rate which we correlated to the Bombay Bhadravati rate, said that the special rate from Bhadravati bay might be increased in the future and the rate from Bhadravati to Ambernath and; would also rise. This complaint he is not to make, because otherwise there may be of undue discrimination.
(16) The complainants learned counsels next argument related to the charge that the Bhadravati Bombay rate contravened S. 28, Indian Railways Act when compared with the Bisco-Bombay The grievance is based on the following From Bisco to Bombay, a distance of 1155 while the tariff rate per maund is Rs. special rate is Re. 1-6-10; whereas from Bhadravati to Bombay, covering a distance of 643 while the tariff rate is Re. 1-15-5, the special Re. 1-3-6. The undue discrimination is be made out by working out the proportionate rate per maund per mile. The Tribunal, after several relevant circumstances, held that complainants grievance was not well founded there was no contravention of S. 2
8. circumstance was that whereas the entire from Bisco to Bombay is served by the Broad Gauge the distance from Bhadravati to Bombay is made up of about 500 odd miles up to Poona served the Metre Gauge, and the remaining 120 by the Broad Gauge; and there is a difference the working expenses of the railways for hauling one ton of goods over one mile on the Broad and one mile on the Metre Gauge.
There is also the circumstance that in the Bhadravati-Bombay route the goods have necessarily to be transhipped at Poona from the Metre Gauge Wagon to the Broad Gauge wagon. Apart from these and other circumstances, we think that the test by the complainant is not a sound and infallible test. In the case of unequal distances, it is fall draw an inference merely on an artificially worked out proportionate charge per mile. The rate t two stations covering an extent of 10 miles necessarily be exactly 1/10 of the rate between two stations covering 100 mlies. In this view, We need not make any comment on the other ground: also the Tribunal came to the conclusion there was no contravention of S. 28, namely that actually the rate from Bhadravati to Bombay is than the Bisco-Bombay rate by Re 0-3-4 per miles
It is obvious that the Compliments cannot claim any relief in futuro as the offending ground of discrimination has itself disappeared. It might have been a different matter it the Tribunal had power to order a refund. The contention of the compliment also fails
(17) In the result, W. P. No. 1007 of 1953 is dismissed with costs: Advocates fee Rs. 500. W. P. 961 of 1953 is allowed to this extent, namely, the order of the Tribunal, in so far as it made declaration for -a period before the date of the the complaint, that is, from January 1951 up to the date of the filing of the complaint, is here by quashed. This is contained in the first part of the order. There will be no order as to costs in petition.
Order accordingly.
Advocates List
For the Appearing Parties Vepa P, Sarathi, V. Thyagarajan, A. Rajagopalan, Advocates.
For Petitioner
- Shekhar Naphade
- Mahesh Agrawal
- Tarun Dua
For Respondent
- S. Vani
- B. Sunita Rao
- Sushil Kumar Pathak
Bench List
HON'BLE CHIEF JUSTICE MR. RAJAMANNAR
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE RAJAGOPALA AYYANGAR
Eq Citation
(1956) 1 MLJ 395
AIR 1955 MAD 476
LQ/MadHC/1954/300
HeadNote
Railways Act, 1989 — Ss. 41(1) & (2) — Tribunal's power to grant declaration as to unreasonableness of rates — Extent of — Held, Tribunal's jurisdiction is much more narrow and restricted than jurisdiction of ordinary Court — Tribunal can grant a declaration relating to a period before date of its order — However, there is nothing in the Act to impose any time limit — Tribunal can grant declaration as to unreasonableness of rates in respect of periods in event, before date of filing of complaint — Order of Tribunal can well become effective from date of complaint — Railways Rates Tribunal, Act, 1987, Ss. 41(1) & (2). Railways — Rates — Determination of — Power of Railways Rates Tribunal to award damages or refund overcharges — Held, the Tribunal has no such power unless specifically conferred by a statutory provision — Railways Act, 1989, Ss. 39 and 26