Question: Write a short note on Goods perishing before sale but after the agreement to sell. [JJS 2019]

Find the answer to the mains question only on Legal Bites. [Write a short note on Goods perishing before sale but after the agreement to sell.]

Answer

Goods are the subject matter of Contract of Sale. Section 8 of the Sale of Goods Act, 1930 lays down the provision for ‘Goods perishing before sale but after agreement to sell’. It states as under:

“Where there is an agreement to sell specific goods, and subsequently the goods without any fault on the part of the seller or buyer perish or become so damaged as no longer to answer to their description in the agreement before the risk passes to the buyer, the agreement is thereby avoided.”

In an agreement to sell specific goods between the buyer and seller, and if subsequently, the goods i.e. the subject matter of agreement to sale perishes without any fault on the part of the seller and the perishment happens before the ownership of the goods is transferred to the buyer, in such cases the agreement for sale is void by virtue of section 8. However, in case the ownership or the title of the specific goods is already passed to the buyer then it becomes his liability if later the good perishes.

Ingredients

1. There must be an agreement to sell and not an actual sale.
2. Goods must be specific.
3. Goods must have been damaged or perished beyond the recognition of the contract.
4. The destruction must take place without the fault of either party.

Aforesaid are the essential elements of Section 8 that must be satisfied in order to invoke the agreement void before the sale.

Illustration: A goes to a dealer B to buy 50 chairs and make an agreement for sale. A has been notified by B that the ordered 50 chairs have arrived. In the meantime, fire broke out in the locality and the chairs are partially burnt. So, here the specific good i.e. the case perishes after the agreement but before the actual sale could be affected. Such an agreement would be void by want of Section 8 conditions.

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Law of Contract Mains Questions Series: Important Questions for Judiciary, APO & University Exams

1. Law of Contract Mains Questions Series Part-I
2. Law of Contract Mains Questions Series Part-II
3. Law of Contract Mains Questions Series Part-III
4. Law of Contract Mains Questions Series Part-IV
5. Law of Contract Mains Questions Series Part-V
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8. Law of Contract Mains Questions Series Part-VIII
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10. Law of Contract Mains Questions Series Part-X