Describe the consequences of “destruction of goods” under the Sale of Goods Act, 1930, where the goods have been destroyed after the agreement to sell but before the sale is affected.

Destruction of Goods-Consequences: In accordance with the provisions of the Sale of Goods Act, 1930 as contained in Section 7, a contract for the sale of specific goods is void if at the time when the contract was made; the goods without the knowledge of the seller, perished or become so damaged as no longer to answer to their description in the contract, then the contract is void ab initio. This section is based on the rule that where both the parties to a contract are under a mistake as to a matter of fact essential to a contract, the contract is void. In a similar way Section 8 provides that an agreement to sell specific goods becomes void if subsequently the goods, without any fault on the part of the seller or buyer, perish or become so damaged as no longer to answer to their description in agreement before the risk passes to the buyer. This rule is also based on the ground of impossibility of performance as stated above. It may, however, be noted that section 7 and 8 apply only to specific goods and not to unascertained goods. If the agreement is to sell a certain quantity of unascertained goods, the perishing of even the whole quantity of such goods in the possession of the seller will not relieve him of his obligation to deliver the goods.