Answer to Question #108280 in Law for Ayush Shrivastava

Question

A painter send’s his paintings for remounting to XYZ shop, and be returned to him by June 15, 2017, to be in time for an exhibition. .The job does not get completed on time due to adverse weather conditions and some delay on part of the shopkeeper. The painting is delivered on 17th June, 2017. Judge the case.

Answer 1

There was an existence of a contract between the two parties which is made impossible to perform by the adverse weather conditions. These conditions are outside the defendant’s control and he must be excused from performance as well as damages. In law, the party who fails to perform must give notice to the other party of the impediment and its effect on its ability to perform. If such notice is not received by the other party within a reasonable time after the party who fails to perform knew or ought to have known of the impediment, he is liable for damages resulting from such non-receipt.

On the other hand, the contract stated clearly and explicitly that time was of the essence and the defendant must have delivered the painting on time. Therefore, the delivery of the painting after the required time equals to the material making the defendant liable for damages incurred by the plaintiff. Just because the job performance has become physically impossible, does not necessarily mean that the breaching party will no longer be liable for any damages caused by breach of contract. However, the question of whether or not the discharge will be granted almost always depends on the facts of the case.