As per the case facts the Food Corporation of India FCI entered into contracts with transport contractors and sought to recover damages losses charges costs and other expenses from them ... due to their negligence as per a specific clause in the contract The issue specifically concerned whether demurrages imposed on the FCI by the Railways could be recovered from the contractors as charges under that clause Both the Single Judge and the Division Bench of the High Court had ruled that demurrages could not be recovered as a charge The question arose whether the term charges in the contract includes demurrages making contractors liable for them Finally the Supreme Court upheld the High Court's decisions concluding that based on the contract's nature and scope the parties did not intend to include demurrages within the meaning of charges The Court distinguished the liability in these contracts from others entered into by FCI with different scopes and objectives