1. This revision from a decree of a Small Cause Court involves the interpretation of Section 77 of the Railways Act. The notice was addressed to the Bengal Nagpur Railway Company, the headquarters of which is at Nagpur. The cause of action arose on the 6th day of June and the notice was posted on the 5th December, the last day of the six months, at Aligarh and did not reach Nagpur till the 8th in the case of one notice and the 9th in the case of the other. The Judge of the Court below is of opinion that it is sufficient if the notice was posted within limitation whether it could reach the Railway Company within the six months or not.
2. The learned Judge has overlooked the words “preferred in writing…to the railway administration.” The law requires that the notice should not merely be preferred, but preferred to the railway administration, within six months. What this means in the case of a notice sent by post is made clear by Sections 141 and 142 of the Indian Railways Act. If the notice was so posted that in the ordinary course of post it should have been delivered to the Railway Company within six months, this would have been a sufficient compliance with the law. A reference to a time table shows that in this case the notice could not possibly have been delivered to the Agent within the time allowed by law. The suit should therefore have been dismissed, and I allow this revision and dismiss the suit with costs. I make no order as to costs in this Court as the respondent has not appeared.
3. Suit dismissed.