Appeal No 1762 of 68
Appeal from the Judgment and Decree dated 18 5 1967 of the Calcutta High Court in Appeal from Original Decree No 18356
980 GL Sanghi and Girish Chandra for the Appellant
Purushottam Chatterjee and Sukumar Ghose for the respond ent
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by RAY CJ
This appeal by certificate is from the judgment dated April 11 1968 of the High Court at Calcutta
The respondent filed this suit against the appellant in the High Court at Calcutta and claimed Rs 76691 2 0 with interest or in the alternative Rs 78204 8 4
The respond ent s case in short is that the respondent delivered to the defendant appellant pursuant to several orders from time to time goods described as Mac Intyre Sleeves and other goods
The respondent alleged in the plaint that the appellant wrongfully purported to reject the Mac Intyre Sleeves supplied by the respondent
The respondent further alleged that the rejection was unlawful inasmuch as the rejection was after lapse of reasonable time
The respondent claimed the sum mentioned in the plaint as reasonable price of the goods
The alternative case of the respondent is that the plaintiff respondent was entitled to the sum for supply of Mac Intyre Sleeves because the same were not supplied gratu itously
The appellant denied in the written statement that there was any enforceable contract and therefore the respondent was not entitled to sue for price of the goods delivered
The appellant took the plea bar of the suit that there was no contract in compliance with section 175 of the Gov ernment of India Act 1935
The appellant pleaded to
the alternative case of the respondent by alleging that the goods were lawfully rejected because the goods were found not to be of the correct description and quality
The appellant further denied that the rejected goods were re tained after lapse of reasonable time without intimating the rejection
At the trial the respondent found that the claim for the sum of money as price of goods could not be sustained be cause of lack of enforceability of contract
The respondent therefore sought to make the appellant liable to compensate the respondent by reason of provisions contained in section 70 of the Indian Contract Act
Counsel for the appellant raised the plea at the trial that there
was  no foundation in the plaint for any case under section 70 of the Indian Contract Act
The three ingredients to support the cause of action under section 70 of the Indian Contract Act are these First the goods are to be delivered lawfully or anything has to be done for another person lawfully
Second the thing done or the goods delivered is so done or delivered not intending to do so gratuitously
Third the person to whom the goods are delivered enjoys the benefit thereof
It is only when the three ingredients are pleaded in the plaint that a cause
of action is constituted under section 70 of the Indian Contract Act
981 If any plaintiff pleads the three ingredients and proves the three features the defendant is then bound to make compensa tion in respect of or to restore the things so done or delivered
The allegation in the plaint in the present case was as follows
In any event the plaintiff is entitled to the said sum of Rs 26248 7 0 and Rs 50442 11 0 with interest for the said Mac Intyre Sleeves Copper Strips and Stay Shackles for the same were not supplied gratuitiously
The plaint lacked the two other essential features to constitute a cause of action under section 70 of the Indian Contract Act
These were that the respondent delivered the goods lawfully to the appellant and that the appellant enjoyed the benefits thereof
The Court should not have allowed the respondent to go to trial in the present case with a Claim under section 70 of the Indian Contract Act in the absence of proper pleadings
In view of the fact that parties went to trial and issues were raised on claims under section 70 of the Indian Con tract Act and the litigation went through the course of trial and appeal we do not desire to non suit the respondent at this stage
The trial court held that the goods were not properly rejected
But the trial court also held that the wordings of the rejection memos negatived any case of enjoyment of benefit
The trial court said that the documents show that the goods were not utilised or used by the appellant and the appellant disclaimed interest in the goods
The trial court also found that the respondent accepted the goods
The findings are inconsistent
The trial court held that the appellant offered to restore the goods to the respondent but the respondent refused to take them back
The trial court dismissed the suit
When the trial court found that the goods were accepted there could be no question of restora tion
The trial court should have decreed the suit
The Division Bench on appeal held that the goods were accepted by the appellant
The Division Bench held that title to the goods passed and if title passed then the whole context of section 70 of the Indian Contract Act would be irrelevant
The judgment of the Division Bench is con fused
The Division Bench treated the case of the respond ent to be a claim for damages for wrongful rejection
Under the Sale of Goods Act when there is any enforceable contract the seller may claim for price of goods sold or damages for non acceptance
The present case could not be supported on the footing of any enforceable contract giving rise to damages for non acceptance or wrongful rejection
The reasoning of the Division Bench in allowing the claim is erroneous
The evidence in the present case as found by the trial court is that the signatures of Rodericks and Francis on the challans indicate acceptance of the goods and therefore the rejection is wrongful
The finding of the trial court that there was acceptance of the goods obviously repels any plea of rejection of the goods
The error of the trial court was that it found the goods were accepted and yet dismissed the suit on the rea soning that the appellant 982 offered to restore the goods
The error of the Division Bench was in decreasing the suit not _on the principles of section 70 of the Indian Contract Act but on damages for non acceptance of goods on the footing of unenforceable contract for sale of goods
In view of the fact that there was acceptance of the goods no question of restoration arises
Counsel for respondent argued that restoration under section 70 of the Indian Contract Act meant that the defendant would have to restore the goods to the plaintiff by delivering the same to the plaintiff
This contention of the plaintiff respondent is utterly unsound
As long as there is intimation by the defendant to the plaintiff that the plaintiff can take back the goods the defendant evinces intention of restoration
In the present case no question of restoration arises be cause of the acceptance of the goods
The respondent in view of the trial court and the Divi sion Bench of the High Court allowing the respondent to go on with the claim under section 70 of the Indian Contract Act became entitled to compensation for the goods accepted
The High Court found that the respondent had received a sum of Rs 7602 0 0 out of the claim of the claim under sec tion 70 of the Indian contract Act and the respondent has been given a decree for Rs 69069 1 0 we order that the parties will pay and bear their own costs in this appeal
We specify the period of two months for payment of the aforesaid sums of money Rs 76671 1 0
The High Court gave a decree for the sum of Rs 69069 1 0
For the foregoing reasons there will be a decree for Rs 690169 1 0
The High Court awarded half costs of the trial and full costs of the appeal
We do not wish to disturb those two orders for costs
In view of the fact that there was no proper case pleaded to support Appeal dismissed


Summary:
In a suit for the recovery of price of Mac Intyre Sleeves supplied to the appellant but alleged to have been wrongfully  rejected after a considerable time the respondentplaintiff sought to make the appellantdefendant liable to compensate by reasons of provisions containing in Section 70 of the Indian Con tract Act
The trial Court found that the goods were accepted and it dismissed the suit on the reasoning that the appellant offered to restore the goods
But on appeal the Division Bench decreed the suit not on the principles of Section 70 of the Contract Act but treating the case of the respondent to be a claim for dam ages for wrongful rejection and for non acceptance of goods on the footing of uninforceable contract for sale of goods
Dismissing the appeal by certificate the
Court HELD 1 The three
ingredients to support the cause of action undersection 70 of the Indian Contract Act are First the goods are to be delivered lawfully or anything has to be done for another person lawfully
Second the thing done
or the  goods delivered is so done or delivered not intending to do so gratuiously
Third the person to whom the goods are delivered enjoys the benefit thereof
It is only when the three ingredients are
pleaded in the plaint that a cause of action is constituted under section 70 of the India Contract Act
If any plaintiff pleads three ingredients and proves the three features the defendant is then bound to make compensation in respect of or to re store the things so done or delivered
980 G H 981 A 2 Courts should not allow the parties to go to trial in the absence of proper pleadings
In the instant case the Court should not have allowed the respondent to go to trial with a claim under section 70 of the Indian Contract Act
981 B C 3 When parties went to trial and issues were raised on claims and the litigation also went through the course of trial and appeal non suiting for want of proper plead ings at the appellate stage by the Supreme Court is not desirable
981 C 4 Restoration under section 70 of the Indian Contract Act does not mean restoration of goods by actual delivery
Intimation to take back the goods rejected evinces intention of restoration
982 B C