Caruppen Chetty Et Al. V. Habibhoy

Present: Lascelles C.J. and Middleton J.

CARUPPEN CHETTY et al. v. HABIBHOY.

277-D. C. Colombo, 31,911.

Damages-Breach of contract-Available market-" Sale of Goods Ordinance, 1896, " s. 49.

The defendant contracted to sell to plaintiffs certain cotton goods, which were manufactured by the defendant only, at a specified price, for one year. Subsequently the defendant refused to supply the goods at the contract price, and offered to sell the goods at Rs. 6 a bale over the contract price. Plaintiffs claimed Rs. 25 a bale as loss of profits on each bale. The District Judge awarded the plaintiffs damages at Rs. 6 a bale, as they could have bought the goods for Rs. 6 over the contract price from the defendant.

Held, that the measure of damages was the estimated loss directly and naturally resulting in the ordinary course of events from the seller's breach of contract, as there was no available market for the goods in question.

" It cannot be said that there is an 'available market' open to a plaintiff for a particular class of goods, when the only source from which they are procurable is the defaulting contractor himself."

THE fact

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