JUGGILAL KAMLAPAT v. PRATAPMAL RAMESHWAR
Citation: [1978] 2 S.C.R. 219; 1977 INSC 222
Court: Supreme Court of India
Bench: M. HAMEEDULLAH BEG , A.C. GUPTA , P.S. KAILASAM
Judgment date:
Case summary
1977 INSC 222. Supreme Court of India judgment dated 1977-11-24. JUGGILAL KAMLAPAT v. PRATAPMAL RAMESHWAR. Read the judgment and case details on LawSphereX.
Judgment text
220 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (1978) 2 S. C. R. JUGGILAL KAMLAPAT v. PRATAPMAL RAMESHWAR November 24, 1977 [M. H. BEG, C. J. , A. C. GUPTA iAND P. S. KAILASAM, JJ. J . , Sale of Goods Act 1930--Sec. 2(4). 18 and 23. Meaning of document of title to g? Ods-Tf pucca delivery order passes the title-If custoni can prevail over law or express contract. ··? Y Evidence Act 1872 Sec. 92 whether custoni can be pleaded to vnry a. written contract. ) Civil Procedure Code 1908 Order VIII rule 2 and 3-Whether all grourid! of defence must be raised-Effect of not raising all defence. The appellant~plaintiff entered into a contract with respondents to sell diverse quantities of B. Twill. By another contract the appellant agreed to sell to the resPondents certain quantity of Hessian goods. All contracts '7. ·ere in the standard forms of the Indian Jute Mills Association.
All contracts contained the follow~ ing clause for payment : "Payment to be made in cash in exchange for Delivery Orders on Sellers, or for Railway Receipts or for Dock's Receipts or for Mate's Receipts (Which Dock's or Mate's Receipts are to be handed by a Dock or Ship's Officer to the Seller's representatives. " The appellant tendered to the respond~ts "Pucca Delivery Orders" on dif~ ferent mills. These pucca deliverv orders contained a stipulation thaJ the mills were not bound to recognise any transferee except the original buyer and1 further requires the transferee to give an undettaking to the mills tha1 he will take delivery of the goods in terms of the cootract ·. between the mills and the original buyer. The appellant was not the original buyer of these pacca delivery orderS. The respondents refused to accept the pucca delivery orders tendered by the appellant or pay for the same.
Tue· appellant, therefore, instituted the present suit In para 19A of the plaint it was contended that the delivery orders were \'alid by virtue of trade, custom and usage of the jute trade in Calcutta. 1be respondents in their written statement contended that the documents described as puce. '\ delivery orders are not delivery orders at all, and, therefore, the tenders were invalid. The respondents also denied the existence of ttade custom or usage as alleged. The learned Trial Judge of the High Court held that the pucca delivery orders tendered by the appellant to the resPondents were not in conformity with the contiracts between the parties. 'He also held that the custom wa5 not proved; that tohe custom alleged! was contrary to sections 18 and 23 of the Sale of Goods Act, 1930 a. nd also to the terms of the written contracts. • Jn an appeal filed by ;he appellant the Division Bench of the High Comt confirmed the decision of the Single Judge. Jn an appeal by certificate Beg. CJ.
(concurring with Gupta J. ) HELD : 1. The crux of the whole matter was whether the plaintiff had carried out what it had undertaken and tendered1 the delivery notes in respect of the contracts. The respondent did not bargain for delivery orders containing reservations or conditions entitling the mills or suppliers to refuse delivery to the holder of the delivery order, unless the defendants complied with such other and additional terms or conditions as the suppliers imposed. It is difficult to see how any alleged custom, could modifv the requirement of law as I to what ':1 document of titl~ is or what a particular contiract is or what a parti-cul~r deh~ery order means. The plea of custom set up by the plaintiff was not available In the face of express statutory provisions as well as specific terms of the con•r~ct between the parties.
Alleged custom, amounting to ignoring or contravening the express terms of agreements or the operation of statutory provisions would obviously be invalid. A custom could not be pleaded as an answer to the provisions of section 92 of the Evidence Act \Vhich bar oral evidence to contradict, vary add to, or substract from the terms of an agreement. Moreover, it has been found by both the learned Trial Judge as well as the Division ' Bench of the High Court that there is no such uniformity of practice or usage about the forms of either contracts or delivery orders or their implicaitions as ro annex obligations contained in a particular type of delivery order to transactions in general. The defendants had to enter into direct separate contracts with the mills before he could demand deliveries. Such conditional delivery orders are certainly not documents of title as defined by section 2(4) of the Sale of Goods Act. f22JC. D-2260, E-G, 227A, B, DJ Anglo-lndia lute Mills Co. v.
Omademu//, 38 Cal. I. L. R. 127, Duni Chand Rataria v. Bhuwalka Brothers Ltd. , [1955] SCR 1071, Jute & Gunny Brokers Ltd. and Anr. v. The Union of lndia & Anr. , [1961] (3) SCR 820 and The Morvi Mercantile Bank Lld. , & Anr. v. Union of lndia, [1965] (3) SCR 254 erferred to .. 2. The defendants cannot be compelled to pay damages for alleged breach of contract when the delivery order was not what they contracted for. In view of the above conclusion it is not necessary to deal with the further question whetiher, the. delivery orders, if they authorised the defendants to demand delivery unconditionally, would still not CO'llstitute a due performance of the contract between the parties until the goods had been ascertained. [227H, 228A. Rl GUPTA J. A delivery order is a document of ti~le to the goolls according to section 2(4) of the Sale of Goods Act.
A delivery order is an order by the owner of goods directing the person who holds them on his behalf to deliver them to the person named in the order. If the pucca delivery orders were documents of ti~le the defendant should have been able to get delivery only by lodging them with the' mills concerned but the delivery orders issued by the mills contain a term that the mills would not be bound to recognise a transferee. The transferees ha. ve to register their names \Vith the miils as buyers and the mills insist OIJl an application being made for that purpose. Thus, the mills insist on a new and separate contract that the holder of a pucca delivery order accept the obligations of the original buyer, which are not necessarily identical with the obligations of the buyers under the contracts concerned in this case. The new contract insists on and includes terms regarding insurance and godown charges which are not mentioned in the contracts between the parties'.
Thus the pucca delivery orders were not documents of the. title under the Sale of Goods Act and were not in conformity with what the parties had contracted for. [230 F. G. 231A. Fl - 2. The delivery orders did not relate to any specific lot of goods. It is well established that tiitle cannot pass until the goods are oocertained in view of ~-section 18 of the Sale of Goods Act. [231F] Jute and Gunny Brokers Ltd. and Anr. v. Union of Tndia and Ors. , [19611 ,. 3 SCR 820; followed. 3. The forn:is of the Indian Jute Manufacturers Association are not uniform. They differ in several particulars. The High Court has found that no such custom or usage has been proved on evidence. [232C] Les Affre.! eure Raunis Societe Anonyme v. Leopold Walford (London) Ltd. , 1919 AC 801 (807) referred to. Ang[ 0 . /ndia Jute Mills Co. v. Omadenuill, ILR 38 Calcutta 127, distinguish· ed. Gunny Brokers Ltd. v. Union of India, [1961] 3 SCR 820, referred to. JUGGILAL v. PRATAPMAL 221 Duni Chand Rataria . v.
Bhuwalka Brothers Ltd. , [1955] 1 S. C. R. 1071, dis- •tinguished. Bayyana Bhimayya v. The Government of Andhra Pradesh, [1961] 3 SCR 267 and State of Andhra Pradesh v. Ko/la Sreera1na Murthy, [1961] 1 SCR 184; dts· tinguished. • 4. The contention of 'he plaintiff that the defendant not having raised the. plea in their correspondence with the plaintiff that the delivery orders tendered ·were defective, were estopped from justifyilfig their repudiation of the contracts on that ground is negatived. The plaintiff did not plead the case of estoppel and ·was, therefore, debarred from raising the contention. Even otherwise the law permits a defendant to justify the repudiation on :w. y ground which exists at the time of repudiation whether or not the ground was stated in the correspondence. [233A. 234A-Bl Nune Sivayya v. Maddu Ranganayakulu, 62 I. A. 89 (98) approved. , , KAH. ASAM J. (Dissenting), J 1. In the original written statement the defendant contended that the bought .
and sold chits a1ad cootracts are invalid and void as hit by the provision of West Bengal Jute Goods Act, 195(}, Therefore, on the original pleadings the question as to whether the delivery order was according to the contract was not in dispute. Four years after the original plaint was filed the appellan• sought amendment of the plaint. By this amendment, the aippellant reiterated that the tenders made by the appellant of the mills pucca delivery orders were duly made in terms of the contract between the parties An Additional Written Statement was filed by the defendant contending that the mills pucca delivery orders were not delivery orders at aill and, in any event, the appellant had no ·title to any of them. The definition of document of ~tie to gopds under section 2( 4) is an inclusive definition.
A document which is used in the ordinary course of business as proof of possession would satisfy the definition as also a document which would enable the possessor to receive the goods thereby represented. The lransfer of title is therefore, not relevant. The document of title to goods need not be confined to specific goods for it may relate to goods which are not specified. The property in the goods is not transferred to the 'buyer unless and until the goods are ascerta. ined but the contention that t1nless 'by the document the pr0perty in the goods passes there could be no docume! lt of title cannot be accepted. [237B-C. D, 239A, B. E, 243A] Anglo India lute Mills Co. v. Omademull, I. LR. 38 Cal. 127, referred to. Duni Chand Ratana v. Bhuwalka Brothers Ltd. , [1955] 1 SCR 1071 applied. . Bayyana Bhimayya v. The Government of Andlzra Pradesh [1961] (3) SCR . 267 referred to. ' Jute and Gunny Brokers Ltd .. and Anr. v. The Union of India and Ors. , [1961] (3) SCR 820, applied.
Stat~ of Andh,ra Pradesh v. Kalla Sreerama Murthy, [1963] (I) SCR 184 1 :J11neraorth v. Ku1gslvay Motors Ltd. , [19541 2 All E. R. 694 referred to. an . 2. The plea of the appellant th&t the delivery orders toodered in . '~e contracts are proJ? er tenders ~ould have to be accepted since the ~=~:i~n · f the documents entitles to receive the goods thereby represented. [243-B] Bhimayya V. The Government of Andhra Pradesh, [1961] (3) SCR 267 at -270 applied, 3. The plea of the appellant is that the delivery order is in accord. ance witb1 the contract and that the respondent knew that the delivery order was in accordance with the contract and that he wanted to avoid the contract without justification as the prices had fallen. [244A·B[ 4. In the original written statement there was no challenge to the validity of the delivery orders. The parties to the suit are bound by the procedure prescribed in the Code of Civil Procedure. Order VIII of the C. P. C.
provides what a '\Vritten statement should contain. Order VIII rule 2 requires that a • defendam1. must raise by his pleading all matters which show the suit not to be maintainable or that the transaction is either void or voidable in point of law and all such grounds of defence as, if not raised, would be likely to iake the opposite party by surprise. Rule 3 requires that it shall not be sufficient for ea defendant in his written statement to deny generally the grounds alleged by the plaintiff but the defendant must deal specifically with each allegation of fact of which he does not admit the truth except damages. The failure to question the validity of the' delivery order on the ground that it required registration with the mill or that the possessor was bound to give an undertaking, would be failure to comply with the requirements of Order VIII. The pleadings of lhe original side of the High Court must be strictly construed. [245B, G-246A"B] Badal & ·co. v. West llldia Trading Co.
, A. LR 1964 S. C. 538 followed. 5. Th~ respondent had ample opportunity to put forward his objections to the deJive:ry order in the correspcndence that was exchanged between the parties-or in· the written statemen• as originally filed. On the pleadings itself it appears that the defence is without substance and belated and put forward for the purpose of escaping the liability. [246"D"E] 6. The defendant not receiving the delivery orders and not raising the plea specifically is more in accordance with his having been satisfied with the deli· very orders being according to contract and his refusal to accept the delivery orders was to avoid the loss due to fall in price. The fact that 3 contracts relating to 2 deliveries have been accepted shows that the respondent was following the practice prevalent in Calcutta by the Juti: Mills Association. [246F, Gl ,. 7.
Taking into account the fact that the appellant as well as the respondent were engaging themselves in the jute Jrade in Calcutta and were following generally the practice of the jute mills Association and had entered into various contracts and haiving business relationship, the conclusion. is irresistible that the respondent! was familiar with the delivery order with the conditions and accepted it as being in use in the ordinary course of business. It is difficult to accept the plea that the delivery order was not negotiable or that it was not in terms of the conMact and that it wouldl not ha. ve enabled him to take possession of the goods. The delivery orders were according to the terms of the contract and the respondent was aware of them. The question is not one of estoppel bu• the inference to be· drawn from the conduct of the respondent.
The pleadings as well as the conduct lead one to the conclusion that the delivery orders were in accordance with the contract which the respondent accepted as mills pucca delivery mders. [247H"248A"B, GJ Jn view of the majority judgmcn• the appeal is dismissed with costs. CIVH. APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Civil Appeal No. 2166 of 1968. " From the Judgment and Decree dated 26-4-1966 of the Calcutta High Court in Appea~ No. 263 of 1959. Y. S. Chitale, Leila Sethi (Mrs. ), Praveen Kumar, Mukul Mudgal,. B. P. Maheswari and Suresh Sethi for the Appellant. S. K. Gupta, S. M. Jain and B. K. Jain for the Respondent. Thi> following opinions of the Court were delivered JUGGILAL Y. PRATAPMAL (Beg, C. J. ) 223 BEG, C. J . -I have gone through the differing judgments of my learned brethren Gupta and Kailasam. The difference arises, I find, primarily from divergent interpretations of what was pleaded by the parties. What Kailasam J.
considers as having been admitted in tl1e pleadings, by implication, was assumed by Gupta J. to be the matter put in issue by pleadings of the two sides which had to be decided . After having considered the pleadings of the parties, I am unable to agree, with great respect, with my learned brother Kailasam that • this case can be decided in favour of the plaintiff on the pleadings of the parties. It is true that the defendant admits the contract under which goods were to be delivered to the defendant under delivery notes to be supplied by the plaintiff for which payments were to be made by the defendant. But, that did not mean that the defendant accepted what the plaintiff alleges to be the contract between the parties with all its alleged implications.
The crux of the whole matter was whether the plaintiff had carried out what it had undertaken and tendered ddivery notes in respect of the contracts still left for us to consider so as to comply with the conditions of the contract really admitted by the defendant. Jn other words, there is a dispute on what the pa11ies understood the contract to provide or mean. While the defendant ac-cepts that there was a contract, he does not accept the plaintiff's version about its dne compliance by the plaintiff and a breach of it by the defendant. If this had not been so there could be no dispute. The whole dispute revolved round the question : Was tender of delivery orders containing certain additional conditions according to or at variance with the contract between the parties ? The plaintiff realized fully that the difficulty in the way of an acceptance of its case was caused by the additional conditions sought " to be attached to actual delivery by the delivery orders tendered by it.
It, therefore, amended the plaint by adding as follows : "19A. The tenders made by the plaintiff of the Mills Pucca Delivery Orders as mentioned in paragraphs 9 14 and 18 of the Plaint were duly made in terms of the Cont~acts between ~e parties. In any event the Delivery Orders tendered m respect of the Contracts mentioned in the Plaint were and are proper tenders by virtue of trade customs and usage of the Jute Trade in Calcutta. Particulars of such customs and/or usages are set out hereunder. (i) In the Ca! cutta Jute mai:ket there is an usage that upon t~e ISsue by the. Mills to the buyers of Deliery ~-orders m respect of 1ute goods purchased, the pur-chas". rs are regarded as the owners of the goods with J the nght to transfer these goods by endorsing the delivery Orders and that the Delivery Orders are regarded as documents of title to the Qoods covered ~ by them.
' (ii) At no time till actual delivery is given, is there any appropriation of the goods either to the Contracts or Delivery Orders, but notwithstanding the absence of the appropriation, the holders of the Mills Delivery Orders (known in the market as Pucca Delivery Orders) are regarded by the trade as the owners of the relevant goods. (iii) That the Pucca Delivery Orders as representing the goods, pass from hand to hand by endorsement being received by the successive buyers against cash payment and are used in the ordinary course of business authorising the holder thereof to receive the goods which they represent irrespective of the forms in which the Mills Pucca Delivery Orders are couched. (iv) That the tender of Mills Delivery Orders on due date to the buyer, irrespective of the form in which they may be couched, in exchange for cash was and is a fair and valid tender under the Standard India Jute Mills Association Contract Forms, and were and are treated as such. 19B.
The defendant, was at all material times fully aware of the aforesaid trade customs and usages and dealt with the plaintiff on the basis thereof. " The defemlant in his additional written statement set out in extenso as follows : "2. With regard to paragraph 19A of the amended Plaint, the defendant denies that the alleged tenders or any of them or the alleged delivery orders or any of them were in terms of the contracts between the parties. Further, the docnme'lts described therein as Mills' Pucca Delivery Orders, are not Delivery Orders at all. The plaintiff in any event had no title to any of them. The documents described as Delivery Orders on the face of them relate to goods deliverable under contracts between third parties mentioned in the said alleged Delivery Order$. In any event, the goods mentioned in the alleged Delivery Orders are not goods of the description mentioned in the contracts between the parties herein.
Further, the defendant called for the tender of inspection orders in terms of the said contracts, bnt the plaintiff wrongfully and in breach of contract failed and neglected to tender any inspection order even with the purported tender of the Documents described as delivery orders or otherw. ise. The alleged tenders were each and all invalid. 3. With further reference to the said paragraph 19 A, the ·defendant denies that the aMeged tenders of alleged Delivery Orders or any such alleged tender were or are proper tenders by virtue of any alle&ed tr';'de custom o~ usage of the jute trade in Calcutta. It 1s demed that there is any trade custom JUGG! LAL v. PRATAPMAL (Beg, C. J. ) 225 or usage as alleged. The correctness of the alleged particulars of the alleged custom or usage is disputed and denied. 4. The allegations contained in sub-paragraph (i) of paragraph 19A are denied.
The documents described as alleged delivery orders in the said paragraph 19A are eot transferable by endorsement. . . 5. Save that there is no appropriation of the goods either to any particnlar contract or to any delivery order, the allegations contained in sub-paragraph (ii) of the said paragraph 19 A are denied. 6. The allegations contained in sub-paragraph (iii) of the said paragraph 19A are denied. 7. The defendant denies each and every allegation contained in sub-paragraph (iv) of the said paragraph l9A. 8. With regard to paragraph ! 9B of the said amended plahit, it is denied that there was or is any trade custom '. )r usage as alleged or . that the defendant was at any time aware of any such alleged custom or usage or that the Jefendant dealt with the plaintiff on the basis of any such alleged custom or usage.
The alleged usage or custom (the existence of which is denied) is in any event inconsistent with the terms of the said written contracts between the parties and as such evidence of such alleged usage or custom is inadmissible. " As a result of the explicit assertions by the plaintiff and the denials • by the defendant, the real dispute between the parties clearly emerged. It was : Did the particular delivery orders, indorsed on behalf of the plaintiff in favour of the defendant, amount to valid tenders as contemplated by the contract between the parties ? Hence, Mr. Justice Bachawat of the Calcutta High Court, who dealt with the case ;n its earlier stages, framed the following among other issues : "3. (a) Did the plaintiff tender the delivery orders in respect of June portion of the goods in terms of the contracts mentioned in paragraphs 3 of the plaint as alleged in paragraph 9 of the plaint '? If so, was the fonder valid ?
(b) Was there any wrongful failure or neglect by the J defendant to accept and/ or pay for the same ? ( c) Did the defendant fail and neglect to pay for and take delivery of the said June portion of the goods ? • * • • • 4. (a) Did the defendant fail and neglect to pay for and take delivery of the Pucca Delivery Orders for May & June 1952 portions of the goods in respect of the contracts mentioned in paragraph 13 of the plaint as alleged in paragraph 14 thereof ? 5. (a) Did the plaintiff duly tender the delivery order in respect of June I 952 portion of the contract mentioned in paragraph 17 of the plaint 7 If so, was the • tender valid ? (b) Was there any wrongful failure or neglect by the defendant to accept and/or pay for the same ? ( c) Did the defendant fail and neglect to pay for and take delivery of the said June 1952 portion of the goods? ................................... " The Trial Judge at the final stage, Mr. Jnstice A. N.
Ray (as he then was), of the Calcutta High Court, then considered the whole of the law and evidence on these issues at considerable length and held that the plaintiff did not tender the delivery orders in accordance with the terms of the contract between the parties. The defendant did not bargain for delivery orders containing reservations or conditions entitling the mills or·suppliers to refuse delivery to the holder of the delivery order unless the defendant complied with such other and additional terms or conditions as the suppliers impose. This, according to the defendant, was "no delivery order''. It was only an offer to deliver if certain conditions are fulfilled and new liabilities undertaken. The contract between the parties was for delivery without such additional terms and liabilities. This was the short and simple question decided upon documentary evidence before the Court.
It is difficult to see how any alleged custom could modify the requirements of law as to what a "document of tit:e" is or what a particular contract is or what a particular delivery order means. It could not help a legally defective document to overcome the basic legal defect due to its terms. It could not override the specific terms of the actual contract between the parties. It could not validato delivery orders containing reservations derogating from the legal requirements of a document of title. The plea of custom set up by the plaintiff, in desperation, was obviously not available in the face of the express statutory provisions as well as the specific terms of the contract between the parties. An alleged custom, amounting to ignoring or contravening the express terms of agreements or the operation of statutory provisions would, obviously, be invalid.
Surely, a custom could not be pleaded as an answer to the provisions of section 92 of the Evidence Act which bar oral evidence to contradict, vary, add to or subtract from the terms of an agreement, although proviso (5) of section 92 a. Jlows "any usage or custom by which incidents not expressly montioned in a'ny contract are usually annexed to contracts of that description" to be proved. Annexing usage or custom to the express II terms of the contract is very different from demolishing the original contract by substituting new terms which enable a party to a contract to get over its obligations under the contract itself. Moreover, it has JUGGILAL V. PRATAPMAL (Beg, C. J.
) 227 been found, by the learned trial Judge as well as the Division Bench of the Calcutta High Court, that there is no such uniformity of practice or usage about the forms of either contracts or delivery orders or their implications as to annex obligations contained in a particular type of delivery order to transactions in general according to various forms of contracts for purchase of jute. It has been cleariy found by Ray J. , and the Division Bench, consis-ting of Sinlta CJ. and Sen J. , that the contracts now before us (we are not concerned with other contracts for which decrees may or may not have been granted) are for "delivery orders" which are documents of title and not for orders with conditions annexed to them which pre-vent them from so operating. On the express terms of these delivery orders, the suppliers of jute were not bound to recognise the rights of the holder by mere endorsement of the order.
It is only after the holder had applied for registration and undertaken payment of storage r,harges, and acknowledged the lien of the supplying mills on the goods, for payment of storage and other charges such as insurance of the goods, that the holder could acquire the right to delivery. In other words, he had to enter into direct separate contracts with the mills before he could demand deliwries.
Such conditional delivery orders are certainly not documents of title as defined by section 2(4) of the Sale of Goods Act, which lays down : " ( 4) "document of title to goods" includes a bill of lading, dock-warrant, warehouse keeper's certificate, wharfingers' certificate, railway receipt, warrant or order for the delivery of goods and any other document used in the ordinary course of business as proof of the possession or control of goods, oc authorising or purporting to authorise, either by endorsement or by delivery, the possessor of the document to transfer or receive goods thereby represented. " We have examined a number of cases cited before us, including : Anglo-fl! dia Jute Mills Co. v. Omademull, (') Duni Chand Kataria v. 2 Bhuwalka Brothers Ltd. ,( ) lute & Gunny Brokers Ltd. & Anr. v. The Union of lndia & Anr. ,(•) and The Morvi Mercantile Bank Ltd. & Anr. v.. Union of bulia.
(•) We were not referred to any case which has laid down that a document purporting to be a delivery order hedg-ed round with conditions showing that the supplier of goods had reserved the option to deliver or not to deliver unless further conditions are complied with could possibly be a "document of title" as contempffited by section 2(4) of the Sale of Goods Act set out above. It could not authorise or purport to authorise the holder. of the document to transfer the goods mentioned in it until another agreement took place. The holder might put up an equitable claim if he had actually paid some money. Bnt, he could not be compelled to pay dama~es far an alleged breach of contract when the delivery order was not what (l) 38 C&I. I. LR. 127. (2) [1955] SCR 1071. (3) [1961] l S. C. R. 820. (4) [1965] 3 SCR 25~. 2-1114SCI/77 he had contracted for. It is a simple case in which what the defendant contracts for has not been received by him on patent facts pleaded and established.
Therefore with due respect, I disagree with Kailasam J. and coucur with the view of my learned brother Gupta. l do not think it is necessary, on the conclusion reached above by me, to deal with the further question whether the delivery orders, if they had authorised the defendant to demand delivery unconditionally, would still not constitute a due performance of the contract between the parties until goods had been ascertained and title actually pasied. If, according to the contract, payment was only to be made when property-in goods had passed, Section 18 of the Sale of Goo 1alka Brothers Limited. ( ). The main question that arose for determination in that case related to the meaning of the expression "actual delivery of possession" in section 2(1)(b)(i) of the West Bengal Jute Goods Future Ordinance, 1949 and it was held that the expression included within its scope symbolical as well as construc'ive delivery of possession.
Another question which was raised, whether the delivery orders concerned in that case could be called documents of title within the meaning of section 2 ( 4) of the Sale of Goods Act, was left open. Thus, this case also does not help the appellant. Bayymw Bhimayya v. The Government of Andhra Pradesh(') and State of Andhra Pradesh v. Ko/la Sreerama Murthy,(') are the other two decisions on which the appellant relied. Neither of these cases is on the point under consideration. Both these cases deal with the liability for payment of sales tax and are on the question whether the transaction is completed by giving and taking delivery of pucca delivery orders. If pucca delivery orders are accepted and paid for, and the (1) [1961] 3 S. C. R. 820. (2) [1955] 1 S. C. R. 1071. (3) (1961] 3 S. C. R. 267. (4) [19631 1 S. C. R. 184. contract is fulfilled by delivery of goods, no such question as involved in the case before us can arise.
Further, in neither of these two decisions any such trade custom as alleged here has been pleaded. Neither decision is therefore relevant for the present purpose. It was also contended that the defendant not having raised the plea in their correspondence with the pla;ntiff that the delivery orders ten- • 8 dc1ed were defective, was estopped from justifying their repudiation of the contracts on that ground. As the High Court has pointed out, no case ol estoppel was pleaded by the plaintiff and therefore, it was the plaintiff who should be precluded from raising the question of estoppcl. Apart from that, the law permits defendant to justify the repudiation on any ground which existed at the time of the repudiation whether or not the ground was stated in the correspondence. (see Nune Sivayya v. Maddu Ranganayakulu(1). In the result the appeal fails and is dismissed with costs. K,\JLASAM, J.
· This appeal is preferred by the plaintiff on certificate of fitness granted by the Calcutta High Court under article 133 ( 1 )( c) of the Constitution against the judgment of the llench of that High Court. The appellant filed a suit No. 3282 of 1952 in the Ordinary Civil Jurisdiction of the Calcutta High Court for the recovery of a sum of Rs. 2,52,968/11/- against the respondent wfth interest thereon at 6 per cent per annum until realisation or in the alternative an inquiry into ctamages and decree for the amount as may be found upon such inquiry. The suit was against the respondent for breach of several contracts mentioned in Paragraph 20 of the plaint. The suit was heard by a \ learned Judge of the Calcutta High Court and by a ,iudgment · 'iver-ed on 24th April, 1959, the learned Judge passed a decree fol ~n of Rs. 67,275 /- with interest at the rate of 6% per annum and dismissed the suit with regard to the rest of the appellant's claim.
The appellant preferred an appeal to a Bench of the Calcutta High Court and the Bench dismissed the appeal confirming the decree passed by the trial Judge. This appeal is preferred by the plaintiff against the decree by special leave. The appellant is the owner of Jute Mills and habitually ships and deals in the sale and purchase of jute goods. The respondent agreed to buy from the appellant and the appellant purported to sell to the respondent various quantities of B Twill. • There were three contracts entered into on 22. 11. 1951, 1. 12. 1951 and 10. 12. I 951 for delivery of certain quantities of bags at specified rates during April, May and June, 1952. Under the three contracts 3 items of goods were deliverable by the appellant to the respondent in April, 1952. Regarding these three items deliverable in April, 1952, the respondent agreed to sell to the appellant and the appellant • agreed to buy from the respondent diverse quantities of B Twill in (I) 62 LA. 89 (98) JUGGILAL v.
PRATAPMAL (Kailasam, J. ) 235 settlement of the goods deliverable in April, 1952 in respect of the three contracts. As there was a fall in the price of the bags of Twills on the basis of settlement contracts the appellant became entitled to Rs. 50,175 and the respondent duly paid to the appellant the said sum. So far as the delivery under the three contracts due in April was concerned it was thus settled by payment by the respondent. Regarding the goods deliverable under the three contracts in May, 1952 the respondent agreed to sell to the appellant and the appellant agreed to buy from the respondent the goods deliverable under the three contracts. As there was a further fall in the price of Twills the appellant submitted 3 bills regarding the three transactions due in May for a sum of Rs. 67,275 but the respondent neglected to pay the sum of Rs. 67,275.
Regarding the goods deliverable in June, 1952 the appellant tendered delivery orders in respect of the June delivery but the respondent failed and neglected to accept the delivery orders and to pay for the same. The appellant after due notice sold the goods at the respondent's risk and thereby suffered a loss of Rs. 91,109/7 /-. Under the fourth contract exchanged between the appellant and the respondent dated 10th January, 1952 the respondent agreed to buy from the appellant and the appellant agreed to sell to the respondent three lakhs yards of hessian delivery in equal instalments in April, May and June, 1952. In respect of the goods deliverable under the contract in April, 1952 the appellant delivered the delivery orders and the respondent paid for and took delivery of the goods but regarding hessian deliverable in May and June the respondent failed to pay and take delivery of pucca delivery orders. The goods were resold after due not!
ce to the respondent and the appellant suffered a loss ' of Rs. 57,". l81/4/-. By another contract dated 19th April, 1952, exchanged between the appellant and the respondent the respondent agreed to buy from the appellant and appellant agreed to sell to the respondent certain quantities of B Twills at certain rates in June, 1952. Though the 'appellant delivered pucca Delivery Orders in respect of the goods deliverable in June, 1952, the respondent failed and neglected to accept and to pay for the goods or the Delivery Orders. The appellant sold the goods at the risk of the respondent at a loss of Rs. 37,203. The defence to the suit as disclosed iu the written statement is that the respondent . has since discovered that the said Bought and Sold Notes and contracts were and are invalid and are void for the reasons stated in the written statement.
The ground on which the Bought and Sold Notes and contracts are stated to be invalid and void is that under the West Bengal Act V of 1950 (West Bengal Jute Goods Act) which was promulgated on 15th March, 1950, and the notification issued thereunder the making of contracts for sale and purchase of jute goods on a forward basis by or with any person not being a person who habitually dealt in the sale or purchase of jute goods involv'ing the actual delivery of possession thereof was prohibited. As the respondent had since discovered that the contracts came within the mischief of the said Act and the notification the contracts were and are void. The respondent admitted that he paid a sum of Rs. 50, 175 /- regarding the three contracts in respect of goods deliverable in April, 1952 bat stated that the same was paid before the contracts were discovered to be vo:d. The other allegations made in the plaint were generally denied.
The facts and/ or vaLdity of the alleged tender and/or the alleged resale and/or the alleged notice were denied. With reference to allegation in paragraph 14 of the plaint that the appellant delivered the delivery orders and the respondent paid for and took delivery of the delivery orders it wai;. averred in the written statement that the delivery orders delivered by the appellant were paid for and taken delivery of by the respondent before the relevant contract was discovered to he void. The claim in the plaint and the respondent's liability was generally denied. According to the pleadings of the parties it is seen that the plaint allegations are that the contracts were entered into in the standard I. J. M. A. forms which were annexed to the plaint. It was further alleged that regarding the delivery of goods in April, 1952, in respect of the three contracts the respondent entered into a settlement contract and paid the appellant a sum of Rs. 57,175 as per the contract.
Regarding goods deliverable in May, 1952 under the three contracts though the bills were submitted the respondent failed and neglected to pay the same. Regarding the goods deliverable under the three contracts in June, 1952, it is alleged that the appellant duly and in terms of the contract tendered the delivery orders in respect of the said goods for June delivery but the respondent wrongfully failed and neglected to· accept and to pay for the same. Regarding the hessian contracts for the goods deliverable in April, 1952, it is alleged that the appellant duly \ delivered delivery orders and the respondent paid for and took delivery of the same but failed and neglected to pay for and take delivery of the goods deliv~rable in May and June 1952. In respect of the hessian deliverable in June, 1952, it is alleged in the plaint that the appellant tendered the pucca delivery orders but the respondent failed and neglected to accept and pay for the said goods or delivery orders.
It may be noted that the specific allegation in the plaint is that regarding April delivery of Twills under the three contracts the claim was ~tisfied by the respondents. Regarding the three contracts for goods delivereble in May it is alleged in the plaint that the appellant submitted the bills but respondent did not honour it. In Paragraph 9 of the plaint it is stated regarding the goods deliverable in June, 1952 that "The plaintiff duly and in terms of the contract tendered the Delivery Orders in respect of the said goods in respect of June Delivery but the • plaintiff wrongfully failed and neglected to accept and/or to pay for the same. " The allegation specifically is that delivery orders were tendered in terms of the contract. So also in the case of hessian contracts it is alleged in Paragraph 14 of the plaint that the appellant duly ;_ delivered the delivery orders and the respondent paid for and took i delivery of the same.
Regarding the goods deliverable in June 1952 also in Paragraph 18 of the plaint it is alleged that the appellant tendered pucca delivery orders in respect of goods deliverable in June, 1952 bnt the respondent failed and neglected to pay and accept for the JUGGILAL v. PRATAPMAL (Kailasiun, !. ) 237 said goods. The reply to the specific allegations referred to in the various paragraphs of the plaint is that the delivery orders in the case of goods deliverable in April were paid for and taken delivery of before the relevant contract was discovered to be void. The allegation by the defence according to the written statement is that the respondent discovered the Bought and Sold notes and contracts to be invalld and void under the West Bengal Act V of 1950 in that it related to a forward contract prohibited under law. The allegations in the plaint that the delivery orders were issued according to the contract were nowhere denied.
The only defence w1 ; that the delivery orders were received and paid for in the case of Ap . ii contracts before realis-ing that the contracrs were void. On the pleadings therefore the question as to whether the delivery order was according to the contract was not in dispute. Neither were the allegations that the contracts were in the standard l. J. M. A. Contract Forms were denied. Four years after the original plaint was filed the appellant sought an amendment of the plaint for introduction of paragraphs 19-A and 19-B and it was ordered by the court on 7th September, 1956.
By this amendment the appellant while reiterating that the tenders made by the appellant of the Mills Pucca Delivery Orders as mentioned in )) paragraphs 9, 14 and 18 o~ the plaint were duly made in terms of the contracts between the parties, further pleaded that the delivery orders tendered in respect of the contract mentioned in the plaint were and are proper tenders by virtue of trade customs and usage of the Jute Trade in Calcutta. The particulars of the customs and usage were set out in four sub-paragraphs of Paragraph 19 A of the plaint. In Paragraph 19B the appellant alleged that the respondent was at all material times fully aware of the aforesaid Trade customs and usages '· and dealt with the ap{l')llant on the basis thereof. An additional written statement was filed by the respondent on 9th December, 1957, in which he denied that the alleged tenders or any of them or the alleged delivery orders or any of them were in terms of the contracts between the parties.
It was contended that the Mills' Pncca Delivery Orders were not delivery orders at all and in any event the appellant had no title to any of them. It was also contended that the delivery orders related to goods deliverable under contract between third parties mentioned in the delivery orders and in any event the goods mentioned in the delivery orders are not goods of the descrip· tion mentioned in the contracts between the parties and that when the respondent called for the tender of inspection orders in terms of the contracts. the appellant wrongfully and in breach of contract failed and neglected to tender any inspection order. The custom pleaded was also denied. It was also contended that the delivery orders were not transferable by endorsement and that there were no appropriations of the goods relating to any contract or delivery order.
The respondent also denied that the customs or usage ever existed and in any event the customs or usage is inconsistent with the terms of the written contrac~ and that it was not right to allege that the respondent was aware of any such customs and dealt with the appellant on that basis. On thd amended plaint and the additional written statement the suit took a new turn and the outcome of the snit was considered important for the jute trade in Calcutta. On the amended pleadings various issues were framed and the litigation has dragged on for nearly 25 years. The matter was fought out and elaborate arguments were ad-dressed before the trial court and a Bench of the Calcutta Hieb Court and before us regarding various questions of facts and law. - So far 'as the original defence to the suit that the contacts were hit at II by the West Bengal Act V of 1950 is concerned it was found against the respondent by both the courts below and was not raised before us.
The suit as well as the appeal proceeded on the basis of the amended pleadings. The trial court framed 7 issues as set out at page 262 of the p,rinted Paper Book and answered them at page 304. lt found that the contracts were not illegal in contravention of the West Bengal Jute Goods Act. It also found that the tenders made by the appellant were not valid and as such the respondent was not liable. Regard· ing the custom or usage in Calcutta the trial court found that there was no such custom proved. It also recorded that the appellant had no title to documents described as Mills Pucca Delivery Orders. These findings were confirmed by the appellate court. The Courts below negatived the custom or usage set up by the appellant. The question mainly is whether the tender of the delivery orders by the appellant is valid.
The trial court as well as the appellate court had gone into - the question as to whether delivery orders were documents of title and whether there can be documents of title in relation to unascertained goods. The trial Judge held that a delivery order is not a document of title nor that the delivery order represented the goods. It was fur· ther held that the property in unascertained goods cannot pass and that in any event as according to the delivery order the Mill is not bouhd to recognise the transfer and as the Mill insisted on written undertaking from the delivery order holder, the delivery order is not a document of title. The appellate court agreed with the conclusions of the trial Judge. The correctness of the conclusions arrived at by the Courts below has to be considered. The question whether the delivery orders are documents of title and whether there can be documents of title in relation to unascertained goods loomed large before the courts below.
The view taken was that the delivery orders are not documents of title and that there could be no document of title in relation to unascertained goods. The "document of title to goods" is defined in section 2(4) of the Sale of Goods Act, 1930, as follows :- "2. ( 4) "document of title to goods" includes a bill of lading. dock-warrant, warehouse keeper's certificate, whar-f! ngers' certificate, railway receipt, W'lfl"ant or order for the delivery of goods and any other document used in the ordi- • nary course of business as proof of the poosession or control of goods, or authorising or purporting to authoris", either by endorsement or by delivery, the possessor of the document to transfer or receive goods thereby represented;" JUGGILAL v. PRATAPMAL (Kailasam, J. ) 239 It is an inclusive defiuition and after enumerating a bill of lading, dock-warrant, warehouse keeper's certificate,.
wharfingers' certiticale, railway receipt, it proceeds to include in the definition warrant or order for delivery of goods and any other document used in the ordi· nary course of business as proof of possession or control of goods or authorising or purporting to authorise either by endorsement or by delivery the possessor of the document to transfer or receive goods thereby represented. The second part of the defiuition would include any other document used in the ordinary course of business as proof of possession or control of goods. It would further include an autho-risation either by endorsement or· by delivery which would enable the possessor of the document to transfer or receive goods thereby represented. The defiuition is silent as to passing of title. It would include an order for delivery of goods.
A document which is used in the ordinary course of business as proof of possession would satisfy the definition as also a document which would enable the possessor to receive the goods thereby represented. The transfer of title is therefore not relevant. It may be noted that while "goods" is defined meauing every kind of moveable property "specific goods" is defined as meaning · goods identified and agreed upon at the time a contract of sale is made. A document of title to goods need not be confined to specific goods for it may relate to goods which are not specified. · Section 18 Do of the Sale of Goods A£t provides that where there is a contract for the sale of unascertained goods, no property in the goods is transferred to the buyer unless and until the goods are ascertained. This section states the effect of the contract and as to whe,n exactly the property in the goods is transferred to the buyer.
The property in the goodS no doubt is not transferred to the buyer unless 'and until the goods are ascertaine nature of a delivery order of the Indian Jute Mills Association has been dealt with by ,dec~ons of courts and may be referred to. In 1 Ang/a-llldia Jute Mills Co. v. Omaiemull( ) the court was dealing with a delivery order and a CCllllmon form o~ contract used by the Indian Jute Manufacturers Association. Clause 3 of the contract is similar to the clause in the present contract and runs as follows :- "Payments to be made in cash in exchange of delivery order on sellers or for Railway Receipts or for Dock Receipts or for Mates Receipts (which Mates Receipts are to be handed by Ships' Officer to the Sellers' representative)" (I) l. L. R. 38 Col. 127.
The Court found that it was established in evidence tJ1at delivery orders of the nature of the one in ·suit, passed from hand to hand by endorsement and were sold and dealt with in the market; that ~ccording to the invariable course of dealing in the Calcutta jute trade delivery orders were only issued on cash payment, and were dealt with in the market as absolutely representing the goods to which they related and free from any lien of the seller. In Duni Chand Rataria v. Bhuwalka Brothers Ltd. ,(') while considering the provisions of the West Bengal Jute Goods Future Ordinance, 1949, thii; Court referred to the terms and conditions of the standard form of the Indian Jute Mills Association contracti;. Clause ( 3) of the contract i• •imilar to clause 3. of the present contract and provided for payment to be made in cash in exchange for delivery ordecs.
The Court found that in respect of the goods deliverable under the contracts th3 millii would, in the case of goods sent by them alongside the ve••el in accordance with the shippers' instructions in that behalf, obtain the mate's receipts in respect of the same and such mate's receipts would be delivered by the mills to their immediate buyers who in their turn would pass them on to their respective buyers iu the chaiu of contracts resting with the ultimate shipper. If the mills held the goodi in their godown they would issue delivery orders on the due date, which delivery orders would be dealt with in the same manner a.. the mate's receipts aforesaid. Both these sets of documents would represent the goods and would be passed on from seller to buyer against payment of cash.
It proceeded to observe that as a matter of fact on the evidence the trial Judge held that in the Calcutta jute trade mills' delivery orders are ordinarily i11Sued by the mills against cash payment and ~ from hand to hand by endorsement and are used in the ordinary course of husin- authorising the endorsee to receive the goods which they represent and that they are dealt with in the market as representing the goods. These delivery order& were coustmed as documents representing the goods and being paBSed on from seller to buyer against payment of cash and the delivery orders issued by the mills agairut cam payment are passed on from hand to hand by endorsement being p received by the successive buyers against cash payment Md are uiOO ill tho ordinary course of business authorising the endorsee to recei,. e the goods which they represent.
The Court found that the manufac-turer of jute goods does not come normally in direct contract with the •hipper gnd it i& only through a chain of contracting parti~• t1t:tt the r shiwet obtains the goods from the manufacturnr and if ooly actual deli'fCI'}' of possession as contrasted with o;ymbolical or c()l}Stmctive delivery were contemplated it would be impossible to carry on the business. In conclusion this Court held that the delivery orders represented the goods 1md the sellers handed over these documents to the buyers against cash payment, and the buyers obtained these documents in token of delivery of possession of the goods. They in tum pllsiied th= documents from hand to hand until they rested with the ultimate buyer who took physical or manual delivery of possession of those goods. In the view that the delivery orders represented the goods this Court did not go into the question whether the delivery orders would (1) f\955] I S. C. R. 1071. JUGGILAL v. PRATAPMAL (Kailasam, !.
) 241 be documents of title under section 2 ( 4) of the Sale of Goods Act. The trial court distinguished this case on the ground that it was not question-ed before the Supreme Court that a Mill's pucca delivery order was document of title and in any event there is no decision that the delivery order i> a document of title. The ground on which Supreme Court's decision wl! S held to be not applicable cannot be supported for this Court has definitely held that the delivery order represents the goods. The appellate court held the decision of the Supreme Court as inapplicable because there was no evidence as to what were the actual terms of the contract or as to the terms and conditions which were to be fulfilled by the intermediate buyer at the time when the actual delivery of the goods was >Ought to be taken from the mills.
The reference to the tenns and conditions which were to be fulfilled by the intermediate buyer refers to the requirement that the buyer should apply for registration and to give an undertaking that he would be bound by the temi> of the conb:act between the mills and the origina·I buyer and that the mills would not give delivery of the goods under delivery orders unless his name was so regist.. -ed. The reference to the conditions would be dealt with later. ID Ban·ana Bhimayya v. The Government of Andhra Pradesh, CJ the question related to the liability to pay sales-tax. The appe1111llt entered into contract with the Mills agreeing to purchase gunnies at a certain rate for future delivery. The appellant also entered into agreements with the Mills by which the Mills agreed to deliver the goods to third parties if requested by the appellants. Before the date of delivery the appellants entered into agreement with third partiC!!
and handed over to them the delivery orders which were known as kutc! u1 delivery order . The margin in the three delivenes due in April under the 3 contracts resulted in a loss of abont Rs. 50,175 to the respondent. That this contract was under Indian Jute Mills' Association was not disputed and accepting its full implications the respondent paid the amount under settlement contracts. Regarding the delivery dne in the month of May under the 3 contracts there was a Sold and Bought note exchanged between the parties whereby the respondent agreed to sell to the appellant and the appellant agreed to buy from the respondent 90,000 bags of B Twills at Rs. 136/- per 100 bags. It may be noted that the price had come down further from Rs. 155/- l\1 April to Rs. 136/- in May. There was nc;> protest \ and for the month of May also the goods were delivered by the appellant to the respondent and back by the respondent to the appellant. Due to the fall in prices the appellant claimed Rs.
67,275/- and a decree had been pa56ed so far as that claim was concerned by the trial Court which has become final. While the contract was accepted and a settlement contract was affected on the basis of delivery of goods by the appellant as regards April and May the dispute is as regards the goods deliverable in June under the 3 contracts. Regarding all the 3 contracts the ffrst 2 deliveries due in April and May have not been disputed. For the delivery of goods under the 3 contracts in . Tnne, 1952, it is aUeged in the plaint in Paragraph 9 as follows :- "The plaintiff further states that in respect of the Contracts mentioned in paragraph 3 above the defendant failed and neglected to pay for and/ or to take delivery of the goods which were deliverable under the aforesaid contracts in June 1952.
The plaintiff duly and in tenns of the contract teri- -dered the Delivery Orders in respect of the said goods in respect of June Delivery but the plaintiff wrongfully failed and neglected to accept and/or to pay for the same. " This is the crux of the appellant's case. The answer to this case is found in Paragraph 6 of the written statement which is as follows :- JUGGILAL v. PRATAPMAL (Kailasam, !. ) 245 "The defendant denies each and every allegation contained m paragraphs 9, 10 and. 18 of the plaint as if the same is set out seriatim and specifically denied. The facts and/or validity of the alleged tender and/ or the alleged resale and or the alleged notice are denied. " In the written statement that was filed on 22nd November, 1952, B. the plea was that the respondent discovered that the Bought and Sold notes and contracts were and are invalid and void as they were in cou-travention of the provisions of the West Bengal Act V of 1950.
W':lle there is a challenge to Bought and Sold notes and contracts as bemg void there is no challenge as to the validity of the delivery orders. While the allegation in Paragraph 9 is specifically denied it does not_ say whether there was or there was not any tender of delivery orders and whether the delivery orders were in accordance with the contract or not. Much less is there any reference to the delivery order requiring that it should be registered with the Mill or that an undertaking to abide by the conditions was insisted upon in the delivery order. In the amended plaint Paragraph 19A was introduced wherein the appellant reiterating that Mills' pucca delivery orders were made in terms of the contracts between the parties proceeded to state that in any event the delivery orders were proper tenders by virtue of trade customs and usage of the Jute Trade in Calcutta.
In the additional written statement filed on 9th December, 1957, further particulars in reply to Paragraph 19A of the plaint are given in Paragraph 2. It is stated that the delivery orders are not in terms of the contracts and that the appellant had no title to them. It is further stated that the delivery orders on the face of them relate to goods deliverable under contracts between third parties, mentioned in the said delivery orders, that the goods are not of the description as mentioned in the contracts and that when the respondent called for the tender of inspection orders appellant neglected to tender any. In Paragraph 4 it was stated that tl1e delivery orders were not transferable by endorsement.
Though the opportunity provided by the amended plaint was availed of for challenging the validity of the delivery order which was not done in the origina,l written state'llent the challenge to the delivery order is not based on any of the grounds which ultimately found acceptance with th. e conrts ~elow, nam~ly that the delivery order required registration with the Mills and reqmred the possessor of the document to give an undertaking that he wonld abide by the conditions and that the Mill was not bonnd to recognise the transfer. The. burden is n? doubt on the appellant to prove his ca. e but the parties to the smt are bound by the procedure prescribed in the Code of Civil Procedure. Order VIII of the Civil Procedure Code requires. what a written statement should contain. Order VIII, Rule 2, reqmres that the defendant must raise by his pleading all mailers which show the suit not to be maintainable, or that the transaction is eith~r void ? T voidable in P?
int of law, and all such grounds of defence as, if not ra1~ed, wou1~ be likely to take the opposite party by surprise. Ru. le 3 reqmres that It shall not be sufficient for a defendant in his ~! ten statement to deny generally the grounds alleged by the plaintiff, but the defendant must deal specifically with each aMegation of fact of which he does not admit the truth, except damages. Tkough the respondent did not question the validity of the delivery order at the first instance he was at liberty to question it when he filed the additional written statement and to raise all gtounds of defence to the validity of the delivery order. The failure to question the validity of the deli very order on the ground that it required registration with the Mill or that the possessor was bound to give an undertaking would be failure to comply with the requirements of Order VIII.
The pleadings were before the Original Side of the Calcutta High Court and the courts have recognised that the pleadings of the Original Side of the High Court must be strictly construed. In Badat and Co. , v. East India Trading Co. ,(') this Court observed regarding the requirements of the written statement under Order VIII, Rules 4 and 5, as follows : "These three rules form an integrated code dealing with the manner in which allegations of fact in the plaint should be traversed and the legal consequences flowing from its nm1-compliance. The written-statement mnst deal specifically with each allegation of fact in the plaint and when a defendant denies any such fact, he must not do so evasively, but answer the point of substance. If his denial of a fact is not specific but evasive, the said fact shall be taken to be admitted. In such an event, tlte admission itself being proof, no other proof is necessary. " The respondent had arn!
lle opportnnity to put forward his objections to the delivery order in the correspondence that was exchanged between the parties or in the written statement as originally filed. The · additional written statement of course gave another opportunity but even in this respondent has failed to put forward the grounds which he ' is in law required to do. On the pleadings itself it appeqrs that the \_ defence is without substance and belated and put forward for the purpose of escaping the liability. The three delivery orders regarding B Twill deliverable in June on the first three contracts, and of hessian deliverable in June and regarding the last contract by which B Twill was deliverable in June, the respondent did not receive the delivery orders. He did not wait to see whether the delivery orders were according to the contract or not.
Though the respondent is entitled to raise all objections open to him under law that the delivery orders are not according to contract, his not receiving the delivery orders and not raising the plea specifically is more in accordance with his having /' been satisfied with the delivery orders being according to contract and his refusal to accept the delivery orders was to avoid the loss due to fall in price. This conclusion is strengthened by his condnct. The ' 3 contracts specified in Paragraph 3 of the plaint were entered into in November and December, 1951, for delivery of goods in April, May and June, 1952. The 3 contracts were accepted and proceeded with regarding April and May delivery in that the validity of the contracts, . • the delivery by the appellant and the delivery back by the respondent J! ' are all admitted and the appellant was awarded a decree accordingly. The dispute as already pointed out is regarding the June delivery and (I) A. 1. R. 1964 S.. C. 538. JUGGILAL v.
PRATAPMAL (Kailasam, J. ) 247 the plea that the delivery orders in respect of the goods relating to June delivery were in terms of the contract was not specifically denied. There were several transactions between the appellant and the respondent which wihl be referred to presently and the contracts were entered into in the standard I. J. M. A. Contract forms. The fact that 3 contracts relating to two deli','eries have been accepted show that the respondent was following the practice prevalent in Calcutta by the Jute Mills Association. Apart from these 3 contracts the respondent agreed to buy from the appellant and the appellant agreed to sell to the respondent 3,00,000 yards of hessian at Rs. 74/- per 100 yards deliverable in equal instalments in April, May and June. It is alleged in Paragraph 14 of the plaint that he had duly delivered the delivery orders and the respondent paid for and took delivery of the same.
But the respondent wrongfully failed and neglected to pay and take delivery of pucca Mills Delivery Orders relating to goods deliverable in May and June, 1952. In the written statement the respondent stated that the delivery orders delivered by the appellant were paid for and taken delivery of by the respondent before the relevant contract was discovered to be void. In the written statement the respondent did not deny that the appellant duly delivered the delivery orders and the respondent paid for and took delivery of the same but pleaded that he paid and took delivery before he discovered that the relevant contract was void. It is significant that the attack was on the contract on the ground that it became void because of the West Bengal Act V of 1950. There is no challenge against fne delivery order.
The contention of the appellant that the delivery orders relating to the present suit were the usual delivery orders which were prevalent in the Jute Trade in Calcutta appears probable. No specific plea that the delivery orders relating to the suit were different from the delivery orders which the respondent accepted regarding the April delivery was raised nor was it contended that the delivery orders which he accepted did not contain the restrictions requiring registration and giving of an undertaking. In the additional written statement there i~ no specific reference to Paragraph 14 of the plaint. Another contract was entered into between the appellant and the respondent on 19th April, 1952, whereby the respondent agreed to buy from the appellant and the appellant agreed to sell to the respoll· dent 90,000 bags of B Twills at Rs. 155/- per 100 bags deliverable in June, 1952. The contract was in the Standard l. J. M. A. Contract Forms.
In Paragraph 18 of the plaint it is alleged that on the due date the plaintiJ. f duly tendered the pucca Delivery Orders in respect of the goods deliverable m June, 1952, and the respondent failed and neglected to accept and pay for the goods. Regarding this contract the defence in the written statement is in Paragraph 6 where it is stated that "the facts and/or validity of the alleged tender arid/or ffi'e alleged resafo and/ or the alleged notice are denied". There is no reference about the transactions in the additional written statement. Taking into account the fact that the appellant as well as the respondent we!
e engaging themselves in the Jute Trade in Calcutta al)d were followmg generally the practice of the Jute Mills Association and had entered into various contracts and having business relationship, the conclusion seems to be irresistible that the respondent was familiar with the delivery order with its conditions and accepted it as being in use in the ordinary course of bnsiness. It is difficnlt to accept the plea that the delivery order was not negotiable or that it was not in the terms of the contract and that it wonld not have enabled him to take possession of the goods as he had to fulfil certain other conditions as getting himself registered with the Mill and giving au undertaking as required. From these circumstances it is clear that the delivery orders were according to the terms of the contract and the respondent himself was aware of them.
The plea that the delivery orders are not in accordance with the contract and that the conditions imposed amount to a new agreement are all belated pleas put forward to avoid the liability. This aspect of the case was not brought to the notice of the trial Judge and the appellate court. The learned trial Judge held that the appelgnt had not raised any plea of estoppel and therefore cannot rely on the failure of the respondent to point out the defects in the delivery orders. At page 284 of the printed Paper Book the learned Judge has observed as follows : "The plaintiff's contention was that under the contract the tender of delivery orders, namely, Mill Pucca Delivery Orders, was a valid tender according to the contract and in auy event was proper tender by virtue of trade customs and usage alleged.
The plaintiff's contention was that parties understood and accepted Mills pucca delivery orders as delivery orders and that the defendant had accepted mill's pucca delivery orders and paid therefore with respect to certain deliveries under the contracts in question. It was also contended on behalf of the plaintiff that in some of the cor- \ respondence the defendant alleged that as the plaintiff failed to tender mill's pucca delivery orders, the contract was can-celled and, therefore, there was in the correspondence never any contention on behalf of the defendant that mill's ptieca delivery orders were not proper tender. No case of estoppel was pleaded and I am, therefore of opinion that the plaintiff cannot raise any such plea of cstoppel. " The question is not one of estoppel but the inference to be drawn from the conduct of the respondent.
The pleadings as well as the conduct lead one to the conclusion that the delivery orders were in accordance with the contract which the respondent accepted as Mills' pucca delivery orders. In the result apart from the questions of law which have been discussed in full by all the courts the appellant is entitled to succeed on the simple ground that he has established that in the cases in dispute the delivery orders were in accordance with the contracts. The appeal is allowed with costs. ORDER In view of the majority judgment, the appeal is dismissed with costs. P. H. P.
Source: Supreme Court eSCR. Dataset: Dattam Labs, CC BY 4.0. Text extracted automatically; compare with the source PDF for layout and accuracy.