Question 3 (c)

Conditions and warranties; implied conditions

6 marks

Time to write
About 12 minutes
Topic
Conditions, warranties and caveat emptor

Question

Question 3 (c) · 6 marks

Define the terms condition and warranties as used in the Sales of Goods Act, 1930. Also discuss which conditions are implied.

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

12 minfor 6 marks

Read from the question

  • Define…Discuss…2 asks, each with its own marks below. Answer both.

Write it in this order

  1. Read; underline the asks; jot your points 1 min
  2. 1 Condition and warranty defined 2 marks 3 min
  3. 2 Implied conditions 4 marks 7 min
  4. Check: every ask answered, key terms underlined 1 min

Short on time? Trim steps 1 and 2 evenly rather than skip one: each is capped at its own marks.

Try it first. About 12 minutes for 6 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.

Condition. A condition is a stipulation that is essential to the contract's main purpose; its breach gives the buyer a right to treat the contract as repudiated (s. 12(2), Sale of Goods Act, 1930).

Picture itConditions and warranties; implied conditions

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.

Warranty. A warranty is a stipulation collateral to the contract's main purpose; its breach gives rise only to a claim for damages, not a right to reject the goods and regard the contract as repudiated (s. 12(3)). Whether a stipulation is a condition or a warranty depends on the construction of the contract, not on the name the parties give it.

Implied conditions. Implied conditions are presumed by law to be present in a contract of sale unless the circumstances show a different intention, and may be negated by express agreement:

  1. Title (s. 14(a)): the seller has the right to sell.
  2. Description (s. 15): the goods correspond with the description.
  3. Sample: the bulk corresponds with the sample; reasonable opportunity to compare; no hidden defect making the goods unmerchantable.
  4. Sample as well as description: correspondence with both.
  5. Quality or fitness: where the buyer, expressly or by implication, tells the seller the particular purpose for which he needs the goods, in a way that shows he is relying on the seller's skill or judgment, and supplying goods of that kind is part of the seller's business, the goods must be reasonably fit for that purpose.
  6. Merchantable quality: where a buyer buys goods by description from a seller who deals in goods of that kind, they must be of merchantable quality, that is, fit to be sold in the market under that description; if the buyer has examined them, there is no implied condition as to defects which that examination ought to have revealed.
  7. Wholesomeness: eatables and provisions must be wholesome, that is, fit for human consumption.

Where the 6 marks sit

#ComponentMarks
1Condition and warranty defined2
2Implied conditions4
Total6
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