Judiciary question bank
Judiciary Sale of Goods Act questions 172-195 of 220, with answer keys and explanations covering conditions, warranties, transfer of property, delivery, unpaid seller rights, auction sales, and buyer remedies.
Coverage
Practice judiciary exam MCQs with answers and explanations across substantive law, procedure, evidence, constitutional law, and state judicial service subjects.
Paid
Insured
Ascertained
Loaded for transit
Correct answer: C. Ascertained
Section 18 is an absolute rule. If the goods are not identified, ownership cannot pass because the law cannot transfer title in uncertainty. The goods must first be ascertained and then usually appropriated according to the contract.
Source note: Sale of Goods Act, 1930, Section 18
The assent of the other party
A court order
Police verification
A written warranty only
Correct answer: A. The assent of the other party
Appropriation means final earmarking of the goods to the contract. It must be unconditional, and the other party must assent, which can be express or implied. Delivery to a carrier without reserving disposal may itself amount to such appropriation.
Source note: Sale of Goods Act, 1930, Section 23
The buyer pays the advance only
The conditions imposed by the seller are fulfilled
The carrier receives the goods
The goods are manufactured
Correct answer: B. The conditions imposed by the seller are fulfilled
A seller can part with possession yet still retain control over ownership until some condition is met, such as payment against documents. Section 25 recognises this commercial device. It protects the seller against the buyer's default after shipment.
Source note: Sale of Goods Act, 1930, Section 25
Possession
Property
Registration
Delivery order
Correct answer: B. Property
Section 26 states the usual rule that risk follows ownership, not mere possession. So if property has already passed, the loss generally falls on the buyer even if delivery is pending. But parties may agree otherwise, and delay caused by fault may shift consequences.
Source note: Sale of Goods Act, 1930, Section 26
Void
Voidable at buyer option only
Perfectly valid
Only suspended
Correct answer: A. Void
A sale of specific goods assumes that the goods exist. If they had already perished before the agreement, the foundation of the contract has failed. The law therefore treats the contract as void because there is nothing that can legally be transferred.
Source note: Sale of Goods Act, 1930, Section 7
Void
A sale at market price
Enforceable with damages
Automatically converted into a bailment
Correct answer: A. Void
Section 8 covers supervening destruction before ownership passes. Since the goods no longer exist and neither party is at fault, the agreement cannot be performed and becomes void. This protects both sides from liability for an impossible transfer.
Source note: Sale of Goods Act, 1930, Section 8
Only the wording of one clause
Terms of the contract, conduct of the parties, and circumstances of the case
Only market price
Only physical delivery
Correct answer: B. Terms of the contract, conduct of the parties, and circumstances of the case
Section 19 is flexible because commercial transactions vary greatly. Courts therefore consider the full transaction context, including express terms, acts of the parties, and surrounding facts. This prevents mechanical application of one rule where the parties clearly intended another result.
Source note: Sale of Goods Act, 1930, Section 19(2)
No one can sue without notice
No one can give what he does not have
No seller can sell on credit
No buyer can reject delivered goods
Correct answer: B. No one can give what he does not have
The rule protects true owners. A non-owner ordinarily cannot transfer a better title than he himself possesses. Therefore, a buyer from a person with defective title usually gets only that defective title, unless one of the statutory exceptions applies.
Source note: Sale of Goods Act, 1930, Section 27
Without paying price
In good faith and without notice of the agent's lack of authority
After a court decree
Only with owner's written ratification
Correct answer: B. In good faith and without notice of the agent's lack of authority
This is an important commercial exception to nemo dat. If the owner has put the mercantile agent in possession with consent, and the buyer buys honestly without notice of any defect in authority, the buyer is protected to preserve market security.
Source note: Sale of Goods Act, 1930, Section 27 proviso
Never dealt with the seller
By conduct caused the buyer to believe that the seller had authority to sell
Filed a criminal case later
Only orally objected in private
Correct answer: B. By conduct caused the buyer to believe that the seller had authority to sell
Estoppel operates against inconsistent conduct. If the owner's words or behaviour induced the buyer to believe the seller was authorised, fairness prevents the owner from later denying that appearance to the prejudice of the buyer.
Source note: Principle of estoppel in sale law
No title at all
Good title
Only a possessory lien
Title subject to automatic cancellation after one year
Correct answer: B. Good title
The law protects innocent third parties where the original contract is merely voidable and has not yet been avoided. Until rescission happens, the seller's title is defeasible but operative. So a good-faith purchaser without notice can obtain good title.
Source note: Sale of Goods Act, 1930, Section 29
No rights at all
Only a damages claim
Good title
A right to possession but not ownership
Correct answer: C. Good title
Section 30 protects good-faith third parties who rely on possession still held by the seller. The law treats continued possession as creating apparent authority. Commercial convenience requires some protection to a later innocent buyer who acts without notice.
Source note: Sale of Goods Act, 1930, Section 30(1)
The original buyer has already become insolvent only
The original buyer wrongfully sells or pledges the goods while in possession
The goods are immovable property
The original seller later changes the contract orally
Correct answer: B. The original buyer wrongfully sells or pledges the goods while in possession
The Act protects honest third parties who deal with a buyer apparently clothed with possession and authority. If the seller voluntarily allowed such possession, the risk of that appearance is placed more on the seller than on the innocent sub-buyer.
Source note: Sale of Goods Act, 1930, Section 30(2)
Accept and pay for them in accordance with the contract
Insure the seller against all transit loss
Resell the goods immediately
Register the contract with the State
Correct answer: A. Accept and pay for them in accordance with the contract
Section 31 states the reciprocal obligations in the simplest form. Delivery and payment are the core performances expected from seller and buyer. The remaining terms of the contract may refine the manner, time, and place, but they do not alter this basic structure.
Source note: Sale of Goods Act, 1930, Section 31
Independent obligations
Concurrent conditions
Void conditions
Criminally enforceable duties
Correct answer: B. Concurrent conditions
The Act presumes a cash-against-goods structure unless parties decide differently. The seller must be ready and willing to give possession in exchange for the price, and the buyer must be ready and willing to pay in exchange for possession.
Source note: Sale of Goods Act, 1930, Section 32
General ownership only
Possession from one person to another
Documents of title alone
Risk alone
Correct answer: B. Possession from one person to another
Delivery concerns possession, not necessarily ownership. Possession may pass before ownership, as in some agreements to sell or where disposal rights are reserved. The definition therefore focuses on the act of putting the buyer or authorised person in possession.
Source note: Sale of Goods Act, 1930, Section 33
Actual delivery
Symbolic delivery
Constructive delivery
Penal delivery
Correct answer: D. Penal delivery
Actual, symbolic, and constructive delivery are recognised commercial ideas. Penal delivery is not a legal mode under sale law. The concept of delivery is flexible because possession can be transferred physically, by control over documents, or by attornment.
Source note: Standard sale law doctrine
To separate the part from the whole
In progress of delivering the whole
Without seller consent
After filing of a suit only
Correct answer: B. In progress of delivering the whole
The effect of part delivery depends on intention. If the part is delivered as part of a process of delivering the entire lot, the law may treat it as delivery of the whole. If it is delivered merely to separate that part, the result is different.
Source note: Sale of Goods Act, 1930, Section 34
The buyer's residence always
The seller's place of business, or if none, the seller's residence
The nearest railway station
The place chosen by the carrier
Correct answer: B. The seller's place of business, or if none, the seller's residence
The Act supplies default rules where parties are silent. One such rule is about place of delivery. Commercially, the seller is not presumed to travel to the buyer unless the contract says so; the buyer generally takes delivery at the seller's business or residence.
Source note: Sale of Goods Act, 1930, Section 36
Any hour the buyer pleases
A reasonable hour
Only during court hours
Only before sunset
Correct answer: B. A reasonable hour
What is reasonable depends on the nature of goods, business usage, and surrounding facts. The Act avoids rigid timing rules and instead adopts a practical standard. A midnight demand in an ordinary business context would typically not satisfy this requirement.
Source note: Sale of Goods Act, 1930, Section 36(4)
The court
The buyer
The insurer
The State
Correct answer: B. The buyer
Where the seller hands over goods to an independent carrier for transmission to the buyer, the carrier is generally treated as the buyer's agent for receipt, unless the seller reserves the right of disposal or the contract indicates otherwise.
Source note: Sale of Goods Act, 1930, Section 39
Reselling them
Examining them to ascertain whether they conform to the contract
Pledging them to a bank
Testing them in court
Correct answer: B. Examining them to ascertain whether they conform to the contract
The law does not force acceptance blindly. The buyer must get a fair chance to inspect whether the goods correspond with the contract. This is especially important in sales by description, sample, or where defects may appear on ordinary examination.
Source note: Sale of Goods Act, 1930, Section 41
Consistent with the ownership of the seller
Inconsistent with the ownership of the seller
Wholly unrelated to the goods
Ordered by the police
Correct answer: B. Inconsistent with the ownership of the seller
Acts like resale, consumption, or use as owner may show acceptance because they are inconsistent with the seller's continuing ownership. Section 42 therefore looks not merely at words but at conduct that reveals adoption of the goods by the buyer.
Source note: Sale of Goods Act, 1930, Section 42
A recognised carrier
Instalments
A warehouse keeper
Symbolic delivery
Correct answer: B. Instalments
The general rule is that the buyer is entitled to insist on delivery in one lot, unless the contract permits instalments. This matters because instalment delivery can affect convenience, risk, storage, and the buyer's commercial use of the goods.
Source note: Sale of Goods Act, 1930, Section 38