Railway booking transit protection bars seizure of goods moving from city booking agency to station under trade tax law.

Goods booked through a railway city booking agency and carried to the railway station are treated as remaining in railway custody during transit. On that footing, the statutory protection available to goods in transit under section 28A(8) of the U.P. Trade Tax Act, 1948 applies, and seizure is not warranted while the goods are in such transit. The text states that the goods were correctly treated as under railway custody, so unconditional release was maintained and the revision failed.

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Issues: Whether goods booked through a railway city booking agency and being transported to the railway station remained in the custody of the Railways so as to attract the protection against seizure available to goods in transit.

Analysis: The goods were booked by the city booking agency functioning under the supervision and control of the Railways and were being carried from the booking agency to the railway station when intercepted. The governing legal position is that goods booked from an out-station to a city booking agency continue to remain in railway custody during transit from the serving station to the booking agency, and such goods are entitled to the statutory protection available to goods in transit under section 28A(8) of the U.P. Trade Tax Act, 1948.

Conclusion: The goods were rightly treated as being in the custody of the Railways, and no seizure was warranted.

Final Conclusion: The revision failed and the order directing unconditional release of the goods stood affirmed.

Ratio Decidendi: Goods booked through a railway booking agency remain in the custody of the Railways during transit and cannot be seized where the statute affords protection to goods in transit.

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