Sale of Goods Act Section 34 — Effect of part delivery

CHAPTER IV PERFORMANCE OF THE CONTRACT

Commercial / Corporate

Summary

Delivering part of the goods while the delivery of the entire consignment is still in progress counts as delivery of the whole for the purpose of transferring ownership of those goods. In other words, once part of the goods is handed over as part of the overall delivery process, ownership of the goods passes as if the full delivery had been made.

However, if the part delivered is given with the clear intention of separating it from the rest of the goods, that delivery does not count as delivery of the remaining goods. In such a case, only the part actually delivered is treated as delivered, and the rest is not affected by that partial delivery.

Official Text

A delivery of part of goods, in progress of the delivery of the whole, has the same effect, for the purpose of passing the property in such goods, as a delivery of the whole; but a delivery of part of the goods, with an intention of severing it from the whole, does not operate as a delivery of the remainder.