Railways Responsible For Goods Till Proper Delivery: Rajasthan High Court Upholds ₹10 Lakh Compensation For Damaged Consignment

The Rajasthan High Court has upheld the compensation of nearly Rs. 10 lakhs imposed on the Western Railway towards damaged consignment of fertilisers, opining that even after being unloaded at the destination, the consignment remained under the control and supervision of the Railways.

While highlighting utmost carelessness and negligence on part of the Railways, the bench of Justice Anoop Kumar Dhand observed that no special efforts were made by the Railways to protect the goods of the claimant that were lying in the open, being exposed to rain.

It was held that if a covered shed was not available at the destination, it was Railway's duty to protect the consignment by providing tarpaulin.

“Section 93 of the Railways Act, 1989 lays down that the Railway Administration shall be responsible for the loss and damage, in transit, or non-delivery of any consignment. The burden lies upon the Railways to prove that they had use reasonable foresight and care to protect the goods...”

The Court was hearing an appeal filed by the Railways Authorities against the decision of the Railways Claims Tribunal (“the Tribunal”) that ordered the appellants to pay the compensation to the respondents.

The respondents had given around 51,000 bags of fertilizers to the Railways to be carried from one place to another. However, when the consignment was received by the respondents, it was damaged after being exposed to rain. Hence, the claim was filed before the tribunal.

It was the case of the appellants that when the consignment reached the destination, the respondents themselves unloaded the same, without giving any receipt and after that the bags got soaked in rain. Since the damage occurred after the receipt of delivery by the respondents, the Railways was not liable to compensate.

After hearing the contentions and perusing the records, the Court highlighted that when the consignment reached the destination, the wagons were placed in open with no covered shed, and the wagons were unloaded onto an uneven place which was far away from the goods shed. Hence, the bags got damaged due to rain while remaining under the custody of the railways.

Furthermore, the Court considered that no evidence was submitted by the appellants to prove that at the destination, the bags were taken by the respondents themselves and were not delivered by the Railway authorities.

The Court opined that without there being any evidence, this argument had no substance because there was a complete mechanism under the Railways Act 1989, for booking and delivery of the consignments.

It was further stated that remarks on the receipts that loading was not supervised by the railways did not absolve them from its responsibility as a carrier. It was their utmost duty to protect the goods of the respondents from any damage, however, those were not kept in proper and safe custody.

In this background, the appeal was rejected, and the order of the Tribunal was upheld.

Title: Union of India & Ors. v the Gujrat State Fertilizer and Chemical Limited

Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Raj) 38

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