APPEAL ALLOWED

Evening Post, Volume CXVII, Issue 55, 6 March 1934, Page 8

APPEAL ALLOWED

PETROL SUPPLY CASE

A decision of interest to servicestation proprietors was delivered in the Supreme Court at Pahnerston Kortli last week, when Mr. Justice Blair reversed the decision of the Magistrate in the recent case "between J. H. Bodle, service station proprietor, and the Vacuum Oil Compan* Proprietary, Ltd. Tho case arose over an alleged overpayment for benzine supplied by the company, due to the use of measuring rods "wrongly aud falsely calibrated," as stated in the original claim by Mr. Bodle. In reversing the decision of the Magistrate, who had found in favour of Bodle, Mr. Justice Blair gave a lengthy description of the process of measuring the contents of a petrol tank. Ho said that there was no definite proof of erroneous calibration (or measurement) at any particular point of time between August 1929 and May 1932. Concerning tlie Magistrate's statements:"ln my opinion there is no doubt that the method of calibration favours the oil companies," the Judge said that with the facts before him he could not arrive at any other than an opposite conclusion. The result could easily be and in many cases it would be a gain instead of a loss to respondent (Bodle). Another statement in the Magistrate's judgment, "Even ou the company's own figures he has been undersupplied," the Judge said: "Not only was there no evidence to support such a finding, but the contrary is the ease." The appeal was therefore allowed with costs, and judgment was directed to be entered in the Magistrate's Court for appellant with costs in that Court.