Indian Sale of Goods Act 1930

A Contract of Sale is:

• an offer to buy for a price, or
• An offer to sell good for a price, and
• the acceptance of such offer.

A Contract may provide for:

• the immediate delivery of the goods, or
• immediate payment of the price, or
• the immediate delivery of the goods and payment both, or
• for the delivery or payment by installments, or
• that the delivery or payment or both shall be postponed.
• per the Section 5 sub-clause (2) - Subject to the provisions of any law for the time being in force, a contract of sale may be made-
• in writing or
• by word of mouth, or
• partly in writing and partly by word of mouth or
• may be implied from the conduct of the parties.

  Goods

Goods are every kind of moveable property other than actionable claims and money, and include:

• Stock and shares,
• Growing crops,
• Grass, and
• Things attached to or forming part of land which is agreed to be severed before sale or under the contract of sale.

Future goods are goods that are to be:

• manufactured, or
• produced, or
• acquired, by the seller after making of the contract of sale

According to the act, the goods which form the subject of a contract of sale may be either existing goods, owned or possessed by the seller, or future goods and there may be a contract for the sale of goods the acquisition of which by the seller depends upon a contingency which may or may not happen. Where by a contract of sale the seller purports to effect a present sale of future goods, the contract operates as an agreement to sell the goods.

A contract of sale of goods is a contract whereby the seller transfers or agrees to transfer the property in goods to the buyer for a price. There may be a contract of sale between one part-owner and another.

A Mercantile Agent has the customary course of business as agent authority:

• either to sell goods, or
• to consign goods for the purposes of sale, or
• to buy goods, or
• to raise money on the security of goods. section-9(2)

A person who buys or agrees to buy goods. Pricerefers to money considered for sale of goods. The price in a contract of sale may be fixed by the contract, or may be left to be fixed in manner thereby agreed, or may be determined by the course of dealing between the parties. Where the price is not determined in accordance with the foregoing provisions, the buyer shall pay the seller a reasonable price. Where there is an agreement to sell goods on the terms that- the price is to be fixed by the valuation of a third party, and such third party cannot or does not make such valuation, the agreement is thereby avoided, provided the goods or any part thereof have been delivered to the buyer, and appropriated by the buyer, the buyer shall pay a reasonable price.

In the event of a dispute, the party not in fault may maintain a suit for damages against the party in fault.

means voluntary transfer of possession from one person to another.

Goods are said to be in a "delivered state" when they are in such state that the buyer would under the contract be bound to take delivery of them.

• Bill of lading dock-warrant,
• Warehouse keeper's certificate,
• Wharfingers' certificate,
• Railway receipt,
• RC book of car,
• Multimodal transport document,
• Warrant or order for the delivery of goods, and
• Any other document used in the ordinary course of business as proof of the possession or control of goods or authorizing or purporting to authorize, either by endorsement or by delivery, the possessor of the document to transfer or receive goods thereby represented.

Goods are said to be damaged/perished if:

• The goods, at the time when the contract was made, have perished or become so damaged as no longer to answer to their description in the contract, and
• Neither seller nor buyer have the knowledge about such destroyed/damaged.

As per Section 8 of Sale of Goods Act, 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.

A "Fault" is defined as a wrongful act by default.

A person is said to be "insolvent" when:

• who has ceased to pay his debts in the ordinary course of business, or
• cannot pay his debts as they become due, whether he has committed an act of insolvency or not.

• "price" means the money consideration for a sale of goods.
• "property" means the general property in goods, and not merely a special property.
• "quality of goods" includes their state or condition.
• "seller" means a person who sells or agrees to sell goods.
• "specific goods" means goods identified and agreed upon at the time a contract of sale is made.
• expressions used but not defined in this Act and defined in the Indian Contract Act, 1872, have the meaning assigned to them in that act.