Sale of Goods Act Section 30 — Seller or buyer in possession after sale
CHAPTER III EFFECTS OF THE CONTRACT — Transfer of title
Commercial / Corporate
Summary
Sub-section (1) covers a seller who has already sold goods but still keeps possession of the goods or the documents of title to them. If that seller, or a mercantile agent acting on the seller's behalf, then delivers or transfers the goods or documents under a later sale, pledge, or other arrangement, and the person receiving them does so in good faith and without knowing about the earlier sale, that later delivery or transfer is treated as if the seller had been expressly authorised by the owner to make it. In effect, the later recipient gets the same protection as if the original sale had not happened.
Sub-section (2) covers a buyer who has bought or agreed to buy goods and, with the seller's consent, gets possession of the goods or the documents of title. If that buyer, or a mercantile agent acting for the buyer, then delivers or transfers the goods or documents under a sale, pledge, or other arrangement to someone who receives them in good faith and without notice of any lien or other right that the original seller had over the goods, that delivery or transfer takes effect as if the seller's lien or right did not exist. So the later recipient is protected from the original seller's claim.
Official Text
(1) Where a person, having sold goods, continues or is in possession of the goods or of the documents of title to the goods, the delivery or transfer by that person or by a mercantile agent acting for him, of the goods or documents of title under any sale, pledge or other disposition thereof to any person receiving the same in good faith and without notice of the previous sale shall have the same effect as if the person making the delivery or transfer were expressly authorised by the owner of the goods to make the same.
(2) Where a person, having bought or agreed to buy goods, obtains, with the consent of the seller, possession of the goods or the documents of title to the goods, the delivery or transfer by that person or by a mercantile agent acting for him, of the goods or documents of title under any sale, pledge or other disposition thereof to any person receiving the same in good faith and without notice of any lien or other right of the original seller in respect of the goods shall have effect as if such lien or right did not exist.