Question 3

Implied conditions displace caveat emptor; TV of a different model delivered

18.75 marks

Time to write
About 38 minutes

From an older CBCS paper

Question

Question 3 · 18.75 marks

Q.3. “Wherever there is an Implied Condition in a Contract of Sale, the Caveat-Emptor rule does not apply, and the buyer will have a right to reject the goods for breach of condition”. Explain with examples. When X orders a TV set on Flipkart, specifying the brand and Model number, and the TV set delivered was a different model, which Implied condition is not fulfilled.

Reworded from the university paper; the task is the same. The original paper belongs to the University of Delhi. See DU's question bank.

Before you write

Read off the question and its marks

38 minfor 18.8 marks

Read from the question

  • ExplainTie the answer to the quoted statement: say what it means first, and come back to it at the end.
  • with examplesExamples are asked for: one short example with each point.

What the paper leaves open

The paper prints no mark per question (any four of six, equal marks, 75 in all); each question is reckoned here at 18.75 marks.

Write it in this order

  1. Read; underline the asks; jot your points 2 min
  2. 1 The statement explained 4 marks 7 min
  3. 2 Implied conditions with examples 9 marks 16 min
  4. 3 The TV set: condition as to description 5.8 marks 11 min
  5. Check: every ask answered, key terms underlined 2 min

Short on time? Trim steps 1–3 evenly rather than skip one: each is capped at its own marks.

Try it first. About 38 minutes for 18.75 marks. Write it out, then open the solution.

Solution

Hover or tap a marked figure, like 72,000, to see how it is made and where else it appears.

The statement. Broadly correct, with two qualifications. The general rule is caveat emptor: the buyer must examine the goods and satisfy himself that they suit his purpose. Where the law implies a condition, the rule gives way, and a breach of the condition lets the buyer reject the goods. But (i) implied conditions can be excluded or waived by express agreement, and

Picture itImplied conditions displace caveat emptor; TV of a different model delivered

1The scooter was stolen goods—the police take it, and the buyer is left standing.

TitleThe seller has the right to sell the goods.

2One box of sweets, one sick family: food sold must be fit to eat.

WholesomenessEatables and provisions must be wholesome, that is, fit for human consumption.

3The sealed fan comes out broken—not fit to be sold as a fan at all.

Merchantable qualityFit to be sold in the market under that description.

  1. under s. 13 a breach of condition is treated only as a breach of warranty, so that the buyer may claim damages but not reject, where he waives the condition, elects to treat the breach as a breach of warranty, or, under a contract that is not severable, has accepted the goods or part of them.

Implied conditions, with examples:

  1. Title (s. 14(a)): the seller has a right to sell. Example: a buyer who has to hand a laptop back to its true owner because the seller had no title may recover the price from the seller.
  2. Description (s. 15): the goods must match the description under which they are sold. Example: the TV set below.
  3. Sample (s. 17): the bulk must correspond with the sample in quality; the buyer must have a reasonable opportunity to compare the two; and the goods must be free from any defect making them unmerchantable that a reasonable examination of the sample would not show. Example: tiles ordered from a sample that match it in colour but crack within weeks from a hidden firing defect breach the condition.
  4. Sample and description: the goods must correspond with both.
  5. Fitness for purpose (s. 16(1)): where the buyer makes known the purpose for which he needs the goods and relies on the seller's skill or judgment, and the seller deals in goods of that kind, the goods must be reasonably fit for that purpose (not where they are bought under a patent or trade name). Example: a farmer who asks a dealer for a pump able to lift water from a 60-metre borewell, and relies on his choice, may reject a pump that cannot.
  6. Merchantability (s. 16(2)): if the buyer buys by description from a seller who trades in that kind of goods, they must be of merchantable quality, that is, fit to be sold as goods of that description; but where the buyer has examined them, there is no condition as to defects that examination ought to have revealed. Example: a new refrigerator that does not cool is not merchantable.
  7. Wholesomeness: eatables and provisions must also be wholesome, fit to eat. Example: packaged milk that has gone sour before its date.

The TV set. X ordered the TV set on Flipkart specifying its brand and model number: the goods were sold by description. The set delivered was a different model, so the implied condition that the goods correspond with the description (s. 15) is not fulfilled. X may reject the set and recover the price.

Where the 18.75 marks sit

#ComponentMarks
1The statement explained4
2Implied conditions with examples9
3The TV set: condition as to description5.75
Total18.75
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