Appropriation of the goods to the contract means doing of an act by the parties which indicates that certain goods are assigned to a particular contract, i.e., certain goods are considered be meant for the performance of a particular contract. For example, a seller agrees to supply me a wrist watch which he has yet manufacture, and after manufacturing some watches, he dispatches one of them to me, that particular watch has been appropriated to the contract, by the seller. Similarly, when there is a contract to supply 100 bags out of the 1,000 bags of cement lying in the seller’s godown, if the seller subsequently puts some mark of buyer’s name on 100 bags, or otherwise indicates to the buyer that which 100 bags would be delivered to him, or dispatches 100 bags to the buyer there has been appropriation of the goods to the contract. Generally, the appropriation is to be made by the seller. In some cases, however, the appropriation may have to be made by the buyer. For example, B has 1,000 bags of wheat belonging to A lying in his godown and if A agrees to sell 100 bags of wheat to B permitting B to select 100 bags out of the 1,000 bags of A which are already in B’s possession, the appropriation of the goods to the contract would, in this case, be made by B, the buyer. When the goods are destroyed before the appropriation could be made, the loss has to be borne by the seller as no property in them is deemed to have been passed.
Thus, for example, out of a big heap of coal only 10 tons are to be supplied to a buyer, the seller having a duty to separate and dispatch the coal, if before the seller could separate the dispatch the 10 tons, the whole of the lot is destroyed by fire, the seller will have to bear the loss for the same as the property in the goods has not passed to the buyer.
Q. 1. X is a coal manufacturer, who is supposed to supply 10 tons of coal to B. X has a total of 100 tons of coal in his godown. X separates 10 tons of coal making a marking on the bags. Whether this amounts to appropriation of goods?
A. Yes
B. No
C. Maybe
D. None of the above.
Ans. a
Q. 2. In the above question, if X allows B to select and mark the bags of coal himself and B marks some bags weighing 10 tons. Then, in such a case appropriation is done by?
a. Buyer
b. Seller
c. Both Buyer and seller
d. None of the above
Ans. a
Q. 3. Which of the following is correct?
a. Appropriation of the goods to the contract means doing of an act by the parties which indicates that certain goods are assigned to a particular contract.
b. Certain goods are considered be meant for the performance of a particular contract.
c. Appropriation is to be made only by the seller.
d. Both A and B
Ans. d
Q. 4. A had a log of wood and contracted with B for the sales of wood at a specified place. B consented for the offer and said he would collect the goods after measuring the same. However, a fire occurred and all the logs were burned. A challenges B to share the loss as the contract for appropriation was already made. Will he succeed?
a. Yes, he will succeed as the appropriation of the goods was done against the buyer.
b. No, he will not succeed as he is greedy.
c. No, he will not succeed as the property has not passed.
d. No, he will not succeed as the appropriation of goods is not binding in law.
Answer: c
Q. 5. A had a log of wood and contracted with B for the sales of wood at a specified place. B consented for the offer and said he would collect the goods after measuring the same. The very night when B picked the logs and kept them in his godown, a fire broke out and all the logs were burned. B challenges A to share the loss claiming that both the parties share the damages in a contract for appropriation. Will he succeed?
a. B is right and A has to share the damages.
b. A is not responsible for the loss of B
c. Contact of appropriation stipulates sharing of loss.
d. Data in the passage is insufficient to answer the question.
Answer: d