1965 (3) TMI 110

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....e of the defendant appellant is denied in the written statement. At the time of delivery, the usual short certificate was given by the Railways. The Court of first instance decreed the suit in part only for ft sum of ₹ 188-18 as on the admitted shortage of 5 maunds and 14 seers of sugar, pilfered in transit. The learned Subordinate Judge, Bankura, on appeal by the plaintiff firm, decreed the suit for a further sum of ₹ 810-3 as, mainly on the ground of the said Assessment Certificate for the deteriorated sugar of about 28 maunds, which causes the real difficulty in this appeal. The said certificate was taken as the basis of damage. 3. Parties came to the Court inter alia on the following relevant facts. It was a consignment of ....

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....a couple of days before the hearing. The learned Munsiff's reasoning, on the other hand, is repeated by Sri Basu before me that opportunity was given to the plaintiff to produce documents in order to prove the quantity of sugar damaged or about the disposal of the damaged stuff. Account books were accordingly produced but relevant entries were not proved. Another witness of the plaintiff said that it was not possible to ascertain from the account books what was the actual loss. 5. After distinguishing a decision of this Court in the case of Balchand Badriprasad v. Union of India, (S) and after laying undue stress on the acceptance of the additional written statement, the Court of appeal below inter alia held, not relying on the plainti....

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....ll ask for none; but before bloodshed let us discuss the matter, and let us agree that for the purpose of this discussion we will be more or less frank; we will try to come to terms, and that nothing that each of us says shall ever be used against the other so as to interfere with our rights at war, if, unfortunately, war results'. That is what I understand to be the meaning, not the definition, of 'without prejudice'." 9. The rule which excludes documents marked 'without prejudice' is a wholesome rule, adopted to enable the disputants to engage in discussion, for the purpose of arriving at terms of peace. Without this protective rule it would often be difficult to take steps towards amicable adjustment. The Court,....