Bartleet & Company V. Ebrahim Lebbe Marikar

1938 Present: Poyser S. P. J. and Wijeyewardene A. J.

BARTLEET & COMPANY v. EBRAHIM LEBBE MARIKAR

142-D. C. Colombo, 3,234

Contract Broker employed for purchase of rubber in London-Purchaser's intention to speculate-Failure to take delivery of rubber-Sale at loss-Bond to pay amount of loss-Not a wagering contract.

The plaintiffs, as brokers, purchased rubber for the defendant on the London market under a contract entered into by the later in the following terms : - ?As arranged please buy seven hundred tons rubber on London, June-December, 1929 at the rate of one hundred tons each month at the current market rate. Also I allow you to have the selling as well?.

The plaintiff carried out these terms of the contract but the rubber that could have been delivered each month was sold at a loss. The defendant had no intention of taking delivery, his object being to speculate on the differences in the prices. The defendant paid the loss for some months and defaulted later. He then entered into a bond to pay the loss due from him, upon which the plaintiff instituted the present action.

Held, that the contract was not a

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