Law: Indian Independence (Rights, Property and Liabilities) Order, 1947

Section: Arts. 8, 9, 10, and 11

(a) Indian Independence (Rights, Property and Liabilities) Order, 1947,   Arts. 8, 9, 10, and 11-Contract of service with N. W. Rail way (pre-Partition)-cannot be considered for purposes of Dominion of Pakistan-Pakistan liable to pay amount of provident fund to heirs of deceased employee of N. W. Railway, who died in Karachi on 1-2-1947-State Railways Provident Fund and Gratuity Rules.   Any contract of service with the North-Western Railway of pre-Partition India cannot be a contract, the purposes of which from the appointed day, can be considered exclusively for the purposes of the Dominion of Pakistan.   If the claim arose out of the contract of service entered into by the deceased (a Loco foreman in N. W. Railway) with the N. W. Railway, it was quite clear that the deceased having died in February 1947, the contract came to an end much earlier before partition and the claim in dispute on that basis could not be con sidered to have arisen out of a contract from the appointed day exclusively for the purposes of the Dominion of Pakistan.   According to the scheme of the Indian Independence (Rights, Property and Liabilities) Order, 1947, contractual liabilities of the new Dominions can only be determined within the provisions of Article 8 or 9. But if the claim is in the nature of breach of non- contractual obligations, it will fall within Article 10, which is a residuary Article. The words "actionable wrong other than breach of contract" are not confined to tortious acts but refer to all wrongful acts which infringe the legal right of private parties arising out of matters other than breach of contract. On the language of Article 10, any breach of the statutory obligation whereby a party is deprived of his right in respect of any property is nothing else but an actionable wrong."   Under the State Railways Provident Fund and Gratuity Rules reproduced in Advance Chapter No. 14 of Personnel Manual an employee of this Class under paragraph 4 is a compulsory subscriber of the Provident Fund.   The case of the- deceased falls under paragraph 4 (ii) because he was employed in the workshop or sheds of N. W. R. and was j…