Discuss briefly Effect of destruction of goods before sale.

Question: Discuss briefly Effect of destruction of goods before sale. [JJS 2017]

Find the answer to the Law of Sale of Goods only on Legal Bites. [Discuss briefly Effect of destruction of goods before sale.]

Answer

There are various kinds of goods and the parties have various options to agree about the delivery of the goods. What shall be the fate of a contract if the goods are perished or destroyed?

1. Destruction before making of contract -- Where in a contract for the sale of specific goods, at the time of making the contract, the goods, without knowledge of the seller, have perished or become so damaged as no longer to answer to their description in the contract, the contract shall become null and void. This is based on the rule of impossibility of performance. Since the subject matter of the contract, which is one of its essential ingredients, itself is destroyed, the contract cannot be carried out.

'Perishing of goods' includes not only complete destruction of the goods when the seller has been irretrievably deprived by the goods or when the goods have been stolen or have in some other way been lost and are untraceable but also when the goods become unmerchantable i.e. when the goods have lost their commercial value.

2. Destruction After the Agreement to Sell but before Sale -- Where in an agreement to sell specific goods, if subsequently the goods, without any fault on the part of the seller or buyer, perish or become so damaged as no longer answer to their description in the agreement, the agreement shall become void, provided the goods are perished before the ownership and risk passes to the buyer. This rule is based on the ground of impossibility of performance.

If the title to be goods has already passed to the buyer, he must pay for the goods though the same cannot be delivered.