The time as the essence of the contract and the liability for breach of contract were central legal principles established in the judgment.

1. This suit has been filed to pass a Judgement and Decree for a sum of Rs.6,94,461/-with interest at 20% p.a. on Rs.4,73,494.46/- from this date till date of payment and for a sum of Rs.18,35,915.07/- towards damages suffered by the Plaintiff on account of breach of contract by the Defendants and for costs.

2. The plaint averments are as follows:-

a. The Plaintiff Company incorporated under the Indian Companies Act, 1913 is carrying on the business of leather exports. The 1st Defendant is a Partnership Firm and the Defendants 2 and 3 are its partners. The 1st Defendant approached the Plaintiff in January 1991 and expressed its willingness to procure leather garments to be exported by the Plaintiff. This arrangement was understood to be on back-to-back basis, that is, the orders to be secured by the 1st Defendant Firm would in turn be based on export orders finalised by the Plaintiff. Based on the assurance of the 1st Defendant of supply of quality leather garments, the Plaintiff approached one of its long standing foreign buyer, namely, Jeffrey Brown Leader Limited. The Plaintiff requested the Defendants to submit samples of different styles of leather garments. The samples were checked and approved by the Plaintiff on submission and were in turn forwarded to the said foreign buyer on 29th May 1991. Based on the verbal offer of the 1st Defendant and the samples approved, the Plaintiff sent its offer to the said Jeffrey Brown Leader Limited for export of leather garments in style 'LULU' and 2163'. The offer of the Plaintiff was accepted by Jeffrey Brown Leader Limited with a specific request that the delivery should be effected by mid August 1991.

b. The 1st Defendant submitted its formal offer to the Plaintiff by a telex dated 4th June

1991 for 1000 pieces of style 'LULU' at Rs.1250/- per piece to be delivered by the end of July 1991. Based on the Defendants' offer, the Plaintiff confirmed to Jeffrey Brown Leader Limited its acceptance of the order for export of 1000 garments of style 'Lulu' to be shipped by the end of August 1991. The Plaintiff accepted the offer of the 1st Defendant on even terms vide telex dated 5th June 1991 and informed the Defendants that the garments should be ready for inspection latest by the end of July. The Plaintiff also agreed that the payment will be made for full value against delivery. The importance of supplying the right merchandise was also stressed, as the Plaintiff was expected to do a large volume of business with Jeffrey Brown Leader Limited. The Plaintiff received a formal offer for supply of garments by the end of July from the 1st Defendant by a letter dated 17th June 1991 with a request to the Plaintiff to sent the contract for the same. On 20th June 1991, Jeffrey Brown Leader Limited placed a further order for 440 garments on the Plaintiff. The Plaintiff immediately communicated to the Defendants its confirmation of the order for the additional 440 garments as also the specifications as to size and measurements. The Plaintiff reiterated the need to keep the garments ready for inspection by the end of July 1991. The Plaintiffs thereafter confirmed to Jeffrey Brown Leader Limited its acceptance of the additional order and also forwarded its invoice to enable Jeffrey Brown Leader Limited to open a letter of credit.

c. After confirmation of the additional order, the Plaintiff forwarded its formal purchase order dated 20th June 1991 to the Defendants for 1440 garments. The delivery clause clearly stipulated 'end of July 1991' as the deadline for delivery of garments by the Defendants, for which the Defendants had accepted. The contract also provided that the garments would be subject to inspection by the Plaintiffs as well as it buyer, Jeffrey Brown Leader Limited. After finalising the orders with Jeffrey Brown Leader Limited as well as the Defendants, the Plaintiff made regular enquiries to ascertain the progress of work on the order placed with the Defendants. The Defendants