CFS
functioning on Leased land - Owner of the land cannot detain third party shipping
containers for amounts due from the Lessee - High Court of Kerala.
Section 148 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872 cannot be invoked against third party containers by the land owner towards realizing his lease rent charges from his lessee held the High Court of Kerala in a recent judgment.
The
Hon’ble Mr. Justice Raja Vijayaraghavan based on the facts of the case held as
follows: “The explanation to Section 148
would apply only in cases wherein, a person who is already in possession of the
goods of others, contracts to hold them as a bailee. In the instant case, such
a circumstance has not arisen. At this juncture, it would be profitable to bear
in mind that the contention of the 4th respondent in the counter affidavit
filed initially was that the petitioners had trespassed into the CFS facility
and that they had illegally stored the containers there. The said contention
was found to be without merit by this Court in view of the stand taken in the
previous proceedings by the 4th respondent. Instead of warning the agencies who
had parked their Containers in the CFS facility on the strength of the contract
entered into with the 5th respondent about the termination of the relationship
between the respondents 4 and 5 and giving a breathing time to remove the
containers from the facility, the 4th respondent proceeded to file an
application under Section 9 of the Act and obtained an interdictory order. The
said application has hence been withdrawn as well. In view of the above, I am
not in a position to accept the contention of the 4th respondent that they are
in a position to retain such goods until they receive due remuneration from the
petitioners herein for the alleged act of trespassing into the CFS facility and
for parking their containers there.”
The Hon'ble Court directed that the owner/agent of the container is entitiled to be provided with police protection to remove the relevant shipping containers lying in the CFS.
The complete judgment can be accessed at the link below
Posts
