Remoteness of damage under the Fatal Accidents Act bars recovery for lost currency notes after a railway collision.

Under the Fatal Accidents Act, compensation for loss to the estate was confined to damage that was the immediate and natural result of the wrongful act. The court held that the disappearance of currency notes carried by the deceased was too remote from the railway collision, because the evidence did not show how the loss occurred and it was not a necessary or probable consequence of the accident. Loss caused by the independent act of a third party could not be attributed to the railway as legal damage arising from the accident, so the claim failed.

---

---

Issues: Whether the plaintiffs could recover, under the Fatal Accidents Act, compensation for the loss of currency notes carried by the deceased, on the footing that the loss formed part of the pecuniary damage occasioned by the railway accident.

Analysis: The claim for loss to the estate under the Fatal Accidents Act was treated as subject to the ordinary rule that damages must be the immediate and natural result of the wrongful act. The disappearance of the currency notes was held not to be a necessary or probable consequence of the railway collision, and the evidence did not show how the loss occurred. The Court held that the loss was too remote to be attributed to the railway's negligence, and that a loss caused by the independent act of a third party could not be fastened on the defendant as the legal consequence of the accident.

Conclusion: The claim for Rs. 1,300 failed, and the plaintiffs were not entitled to recover that amount from the railway administration.

---