#THE INDIAN BILLS OF LADING ACT, 1856 
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##ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS 
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###Preamble 

##SECTIONS  

1.  Rights under bills of lading to vest in consignee or endorsee. 
2.  Not to affect right of stoppage in transit or claims for freight. 
3.  Bill of lading in hands of consignee, etc., conclusive evidence of the shipment as 
against master, etc.

 

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#THE INDIAN BILLS OF LADING ACT, 1856 

##ACT NO. 9 OF 1856 

[11th April, 1856.] 

An Act to amend the Law relating to Bills of Landing. 

**Preamble.**—WHEREAS by the custom of merchants a bill of lading of goods being transferable by 
endorsement, the property in the goods may thereby pass to the endorsee, but nevertheless all rights in 
respect of the contract contained in the bill of lading continue in the original shipper or owner, and it is 
expedient that such rights should pass with the property; and whereas it frequently happens that the goods 
in respect of which bills of lading purport to be signed have not been laden on board, and it is proper that 
such bills of lading in the hands of a bona fide holder for value should not be questioned by the master or 
other  person  signing  the  same,  on  the  ground  of  the  goods  not  having  been  laden  as  aforesaid:  It  is 
enacted as follows:— 

1. **Rights  under  bills  of  lading  to  vest  in  consignee  or  endorsee.**—Every consignee of 
goods named in a bill of lading, and every endorsee of a bill of lading to whom the property in the goods 
therein  mentioned  shall  pass,  upon  or  by  reason  of  such  consignment  or  endorsement  shall  have 
transferred to and vested in him all rights of suit, and be subject to the same liabilities in respect of such 
goods as if the contract contained in the bill of lading had been made with himself. 

2. **Not to affect right of stoppage in transit or claims for freight.**—Nothing  herein 
contained shall prejudice or affect any right of stoppage in transit,2 or any right to claim freight against 
the original shipper or owner, or any liability of the consignee or endorsee by reason or in consequence of 
his being such consignee or endorsee, or of his receipt of the goods by reason or in consequence of such 
consignment or endorsement.

3. **Bill  of  lading  in  hands  of  consignee,  etc.,  conclusive  evidence  of  the  shipment  as against  master,  etc.**
—Every  bill  of  lading  in  the  hands  of  a  consignee  or  endorsee  for  valuable 
consideration, representing goods to have been shipped on board a vessel, shall be conclusive evidence of 
such shipment as, against the master or other person signing the same, notwithstanding that such goods or 
some part thereof may not have been so shipped, unless such holder of the bill of lading shall have had 
actual notice at the time of receiving the same that the goods had not in fact been laden on board: 

Provided  that  the  master  or  other  person  so  signing  may  exonerate  himself  in  respect  of  such 
misrepresentation, by showing that it was caused without any default on his part, and wholly by the fraud 
of the shipper, or of the holder, or some person under whom the holder claims. 




[^1]. Short title given by the Indian Short Titles Act, 1897 (14 of 1897), s. 2 and Schedule.  
This Act is based on the Bills of Lading Act, 1855 (18 and 19 Vict., c. 111). 
It has been declared to be in force in the whole of India except Part B States and the Scheduled Districts, by the Laws Local 

Extent Act, 1874 (15 of 1874), s. 3. 

Extended to former Part B States by Act 18 of 1949, s. 4. 
Extended to Union territory of Pondicherry by Act 26 of 1968, s. 3 and Schedule. 

It  has  been  declared,  by  notification  under  s.  3(a)  of  the  Scheduled  Districts  Act,  1874  (14  of  1874),  to  be  in  force  in  the 

following Scheduled Districts, namely :—  
West Jalpaiguri, see Gazette of India, 1881, Pt. I, p. 74. 

The Districts of Hazaribagh, Lohardaga (now the Ranchi district, see Calcutta Gazette, 1899, Pt. I, p. 44), and Manbhum, and 

Pargana Dhalbhum and the Kolhan in the District of Singhbhurn, see Gazette of India, 1881, Pt. I, p. 504. 
Assam (except the North Lushai Hills), see Gazette of India, 1897, Pt. I, p. 299. 