Court caseAIR 1970 SC 1089

The Government of Hyderabad (whose rights and liabilities passed to Andhra Pradesh) agreed to buy from the appellants' family a valuable collection of old Unani medical books and manuscripts. A part of the price was paid when the collection was handed over; the balance was to be paid after the books had been checked and listed by the Government. The Government took the collection, kept it for years and then declined to pay the balance, contending that the checking had never been completed and that its obligation to pay depended on it.

The Supreme Court held that the transaction was a completed sale and the promise to pay the balance was an absolute one. The clause about checking the books was a term regulating the manner of performance, not a collateral uncertain event within s. 31 on which the existence of the liability depended. A party cannot set up as a contingency a step that it alone had to take and had chosen not to take. The appellants were entitled to the balance of the price.