Question 4 (d)
Sale by sample: seller refuses inspection of one parcel; implied conditions
12 marks
- Time to write
- About 24 minutes
Question
Question 4 (d) · 12 marksA shopkeeper sold Meera two parcels of wheat by a sample. A week later, when she went to examine the bulk, the seller showed her one of the parcels but refused to show the other. Meera decides to rescind the whole contract. Is she justified in this under the Sale of Goods Act, of 1930? Also, as per the act, explain 'Implied Conditions'.
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
Read from the question
- Is she justified…?A case problem: state the rule and its section, apply it to these facts, then answer in one line (yes or no, and why).
Write it in this order
- Read the facts; underline who did what, and the exact question 2 min
- 1 Sale by sample: section 17 and the decided case 3 marks 5 min
- 2 Application and decision 3 marks 5 min
- 3 Implied conditions 6 marks 10 min
- Check: section named, answer stated in one line 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 24 minutes for 12 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.
Law. In a sale by sample there is an implied condition that the bulk shall correspond with the sample in quality, and that the buyer must have a reasonable chance to compare the bulk with the sample (s. 17(2), Sale of Goods Act, 1930). In a decided case two parcels of wheat were sold by sample and the seller let the buyer inspect only the smaller parcel; the court held that the buyer could refuse to take the wheat.
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.
Application. Meera bought two parcels of wheat by sample. When she went to examine the bulk, the seller showed her one parcel and refused to show the other. She was denied the reasonable opportunity of comparing the bulk with the sample to which section 17 entitles her, so the implied condition is broken. As the condition is broken before she has accepted the goods, she may treat the contract as repudiated.
Decision. Meera is justified in rescinding the entire contract and refusing both parcels.
Implied conditions (ss. 14-17), present unless the contract shows a different intention:
- Title (s. 14(a)): the seller has the right to sell.
- Description (s. 15): the goods correspond with the description.
- Sample: correspondence with the sample, a reasonable opportunity to compare, and freedom from hidden defects making the goods unmerchantable.
- Sample as well as description: correspondence with both.
- Quality or fitness (s. 16(1)): 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.
- Merchantable quality (s. 16(2)): 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.
- Wholesomeness: eatables and provisions must be wholesome, that is, fit for human consumption.
Where the 12 marks sit
| # | Component | Marks |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sale by sample: section 17 and the decided case | 3 |
| 2 | Application and decision | 3 |
| 3 | Implied conditions | 6 |
| Total | 12 |
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