Home  /  Indian Contract Act  /  Section 82

Section 82: Sections 76 to 123 [Repealed by the Indian Sale of Goods Act, 1930]

Indian Contract Act • Official Statutory Text & Practice Guide

Statutory Regulation
Legal Standard
Competent Court / Tribunal
Act 1872
Section 81 All 266 Sections of Indian Contract Act Section 83

Legal Commentary & Landmark Judgments: Section 82

Section 82 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872 originally governed the transfer of ownership of goods sold in an uncertain quantity or forming part of a larger bulk, establishing that ownership cannot pass until the goods are segregated and appropriated; repealed by Act 3 of 1930 and succeeded by Section 23(1) of the Sale of Goods Act, 1930.

  • Sale of Unascertained Portion out of Bulk: Applied to transactions where a specified quantity or measure was sold from an undivided larger mass or indeterminate stock.
  • Mandatory Segregation and Appropriation Rule: Property in the goods did not pass to the buyer until the agreed quantity was physically separated, measured, severed, or specifically earmarked for the contract with mutual assent.
  • Legislative Repeal and Modern Succession (Act 3 of 1930): Repealed by Act 3 of 1930 and re-enacted in Section 23(1) of the Sale of Goods Act, 1930, cementing the requirement of unconditional appropriation by one party with the assent of the other.
Key Landmark Precedents:
  • Jute Distributors v. Sushil Kumar Gupta AIR 1974 Cal 386: The High Court applied the principles originating in Section 82 of the Contract Act and Section 23 of the SGA, holding that property in bales of jute forming part of a larger warehouse inventory could not pass until the bales were segregated and identified.
  • Healy v. Howlett & Sons (1917) 1 KB 337: Classic authority codified in Section 82 and Section 23 SGA: fish dispatched in bulk by railway from which the buyer's earmarked boxes were not segregated; held that property and risk had not passed to the buyer prior to deterioration.
Courtroom Practice & Strategic Litigation Guidance:

In bulk commodity, oil, or grain transactions, plead Section 23(1) SGA (succeeding Section 82) to establish that no title or risk transfers while goods remain co-mingled in unsegregated silos or tanks. Verify warehouse segregation logs and sampling certificates to pinpoint the exact moment of title transfer.

Section 81 All 266 Sections of Indian Contract Act Section 83