Rights and Duties

of Seller
-Hemanandhini
21BLB1095
Contents
1 Introduction

2 Rights of a Seller

3 Duties of a Seller

4 Conclusions
 Introduction

“Seller”-The definition of "seller" in Section 2(13) includes not only the person who sells but also the
person who agreed to sell. Hence, even if the agreement for sale had not ripened into a completed sale,
the previous owner would still be the seller within the meaning of the Act.

“Rights”- Rights are legal, social, or ethical principles of freedom or entitlement; that is, rights are the
fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some
legal system, social convention, or ethical theory.

“Duty”-A legal duty is an obligation, created by law or contract. A legal duty requires a person to
conform their actions to a particular standard. And it also carries with it a recognition that the law will
enforce this duty to the benefit of other individuals to whom this duty is owed.
Rights of a seller SA
L E

Rights to have
acceptance of
Right to take legal
goods
action

Rights to claim loss

Right to Interest
Right to receive the
price of goods
 Rights to have acceptance of goods

It is the right of the seller that goods delivered by a seller under a contract of sale
must be accepted by the buyer.

In Demby Hamilton & Co. v. Barden, the buyer who wrongfully refused to take delivery of apple juice,
was held liable for the deterioration of the same due to his not taking the delivery

 Acceptance of goods occurs when the buyer

• after a reasonable opportunity to inspect the goods signifies to the seller that the goods are
conforming or that he will take or retain them in spite of their nonconformity.
• fails to make an effective rejection but such acceptance does not occur until the buyer has had a
reasonable opportunity to inspect them; or
• does any act inconsistent with the seller’s ownership; but if such act is wrongful as against the seller it
is an acceptance only if ratified by him.

 Acceptance of a part of any commercial unit is acceptance of that entire unit.

 Rights to claim loss LOSS

If the buyer wrongfully refuses or neglects to accept and pay the unpaid seller, the seller can
sue the buyer for damages caused due to his non-acceptance of goods. Since the buyer
refused to buy the goods without any just cause, the seller may face certain damages.

In the case of Suresh Kumar Rajendra Kumar v K Assan Koya & sons the plaintiff sold the
goods to the buyer who afterwards rejected to accept and pay for the goods. Plaintiff in
orderly course of business sold the goods urgently at a lower price. The court held that the
buyer had to pay damages to the amount of difference between the price the rice was
supposed to be sold and the price it was finally sold. This case is the perfect example of the
seller utilizing the remedies available to him under section 54 and 56
 Right to receive the price of goods

According to Section 32 ,
Unless and otherwise agreed, delivery of goods and payment of the price are concurrent condition
payment of the price are concurrent conditions, that is to say, the seller shall be ready and willing to
give possession of the goods to the buyer in exchange for the price and the buyer shall be ready and
willing to pay the price in exchange for possession of the goods

The parties may agree as to when the price is payable. The buyer is bound to accept the goods and pay
for them in accordance with the contract. If there is no contract to the contrary, the delivery of the
goods and the payment of the price are concurrent conditions,
 Right to take legal action

It is the right of a seller to take legal action against the

buyer if the price is not paid to him.

Where under a contract of sale the property in the goods has passed
to the buyer and the buyer wrongfully neglects or refuses to pay for
the goods according to the terms of the contract, the seller may sue
him for the price of the goods.
 Right to Interest R EST
IN TE

Seller is entitled to interest at a reasonable rate on the total unpaid price of goods
sold, from the time it was due and until it is actually paid to him.

Interest is to be paid on the amount of the price, from the date when the price was payable, at
such rate as the court thinks just. Thus, the Court may order interest on the price from the date
of tender of the goods if no date of payment of price has been decided, or from the date when
the price was payable.
 Duties of a seller

Duty to put goods in Duty to refund the

Duty to Deliver goods
deliverable state price

Duty to pay interest Duty to pay damages

for breach of warranty
 Duty to Deliver goods
Delivery of the goods, according to Sec. 2(2), means voluntary transfer of possession of goods from one person
to another. Delivery of the goods sold may be made by doing anything which the parties agree shall be treated
as delivery or which has the effect of putting the goods in the possession of the buyer or his agent.
Rules regarding Delivery :
(1) Delivery according to contract.-According to Sec. 31, of the Sales of Goods Act, 1930 the seller's duty is
to deliver the goods in accordance with the contract of sale of goods. The contract may provide about the
time, place and the manner of delivery of the goods, the seller is bound to observe the same.
(2) Time of Delivery.- The seller is bound to deliver the goods on the specified time in the contract. In Food
Corporation of India v. Arosan Enterprises Ltd., there was a contract for the sale of sugar to a buyer for his
urgent need for Dussehra, Diwali festivals. The buyer agreed to the extension of the delivery date but the
sugar was not supplied even then. It was held that since he needed the sugar urgently for festivals, he was
justified in not extending the delivery period any further. If there is a delay in the delivery of the goods by
the seller and the time of delivery is the essence of the contract, the buyer may reject the goods, but if the
time is not the essence of the contract such delay would entitle the buyer to claim compensation only.
In Union of India v. West Punjab Factories Ltd., the consignee of certain goods sent
through Railway, signed and delivered Railway Receipts to the Railway and gave credit
vouchers in respect of the freight of the consignment at the destination even before the
goods had been unloaded from wagons.
The consignee was not authorised to remove the goods from the wagons, the Railway
authorities had to unload the wagons and then the consignee was to take them away
with the permission of the Assistant Goods Clerk. Before the consignee could take them
away, the goods were destroyed by fire. It was held that the loss had to be borne by the
Railway as no delivery of the goods could be said to have taken place merely by the
consignee signing the delivery book and surrendering the Railway Receipts because the
goods still remained in the custody of the Railway. There was only a token delivery of
the goods but the real delivery had not taken place.
ER
L L
SE
 Duty to put goods in deliverable state

Where it is necessary for the seller to do something with the goods in order to put
them into a deliverable state, he must do such thing to put the goods into a deliverable
state within a stipulated or reasonable time

Yangtsze Insurance Association Limited v. Lukmanjee

In this case Mr. Adamjee Lukmanjee sued upon a policy of marine insurance
to recover a loss in respect of 144 logs of teak-wood, which, after being
discharged overside ex steamship Hild at Colombo, were lost in a gale while
still in raft. He succeeded, though on somewhat different grounds, both in the
District Court of Colombo and in the Supreme Court of Ceylon. The insurance
company now appeals.
 Duty to refund the price

Where the seller fails to deliver the goods to the buyer, he must pay back
the price of the goods to the buyer which he had received in advance.

When the consideration for the payment made has failed, the buyer can recover
back the price. Thus, if the seller delivers a stolen car to the buyer and takes its
price, and then the buyer is compelled to return the car to the true owner, the
buyer is entitled to recover from the seller the price paid by him.'
 Duty to pay interest

When the buyer has already paid the price of the goods to the seller but the seller fails to perform
his part of the contract, the buyer is entitled to the refund of the price. Similarly, when the
consideration for the payment made has failed, the buyer can recover back the price. In his suit
for refund of the price, the buyer is also entitled to interest on the amount of the price from the
date of the payment of the price to the date of the refund of the same.

In State Trading Corporation v. Tara Jewellers,' due to Governments' ban on export a contract
for the purchase of silver for export was frustrated. In a claim for the refund of the price as well
as interest thereon, Calcutta High Court allowed the refund as well as interest @ 6% p.a. from
the date of suit till refund date.
 Duty to pay damages for breach of warranty
Where there is a breach of warranty on the part of a seller, the seller is bound
to pay the damages to the buyer for the breach of warranty.

In Mason v. Burningham, the buyer purchased a second hand typewriter for £ 20 and subsequently
spent £ 11 on getting it overhauled. The typewriter turned out to be stolen property and the buyer had
to return the same to its owner. It was held that the buyer was entitled to recover from the seller not
only the sum of £ 20 paid by him to the seller by way of price but also the sum of £ 11 spent by him
on its overhauling.

In Randall v. Newson, the plaintiff purchased a pole for his carriage for £ 3 from the defendant, a
coach-builder. The pole broke causing injuries to the horses resulting in a loss of £ 130 to the plaintiff.
If was held that the plaintiff could recover not only the sum of £ 3, the price paid for the pole but also
of £ 130 if that loss was considered by the jury to have arisen as a natural consequence of the defective
pole.
Thankyou !