Railways (Transport of Goods) Act, 1947

This 1947 Act gives the Federal Government special, temporary powers to control how goods are transported by rail, originally passed to manage wartime and post-Partition supply shortages. Section 3 lets the government or an authorised person direct any railway administration to give special facilities or preference to the transport of particular goods listed in the Act's Schedule, or, in cases of urgent public interest, to any other goods — and also lets the government order a railway to refuse to carry specified goods altogether, either completely or between particular places.

Section 4 makes compliance with such directions mandatory for railway administrations, overriding anything to the contrary in the Railways Act, 1890. Section 5 protects the government, railway administrations and any person acting under a direction from being sued for damage caused by complying with an order issued under the Act.

The Schedule (amendable by the government under Section 6) lists categories of goods eligible for special transport priority, ranging from famine-relief and refugee-rehabilitation stores, military and police equipment, foodstuffs, medical supplies, fuels, cotton and other raw materials, industrial plant and finished products, motor vehicles, and household effects of transferred or retiring government servants.

Section 1 shows this law was originally meant to be temporary ("one year" in 1947), and has been repeatedly extended by amending Acts through 1973, when its duration was fixed at thirty-one years from commencement. Given its age, extensive footnoted amendments, and time-limited design, its current legal status and continuing applicability should be verified against the present official text before relying on it.