Goods
Also called: Movable goods
Under Section 2(7) of the Sale of Goods Act, 1930, every kind of movable property other than actionable claims and money, including stocks and shares, growing crops and things to be severed from land.
Explained
The leading definition is in Section 2(7) of the Sale of Goods Act, 1930: goods means every kind of movable property other than actionable claims and money, and includes stock and shares, growing crops, grass, and things attached to or forming part of the land which are agreed to be severed before sale or under the contract of sale. Two exclusions and three inclusions are the core of the definition. Money and actionable claims, such as book debts, are excluded.
The Act then classifies goods. Under Section 6, goods forming the subject of a contract of sale may be existing goods, owned or possessed by the seller, or future goods, which under Section 2(6) are goods to be manufactured, produced or acquired by the seller after the contract. Specific goods under Section 2(14) are goods identified and agreed upon when the contract is made. A purported present sale of future goods operates only as an agreement to sell (Section 6(3)), and a contract of sale under Section 4 is one by which the seller transfers or agrees to transfer property in goods for a price.
Other statutes define goods for their own purposes, and the definitions differ. Under Section 2(21) of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, goods means every kind of movable property and includes food. Under Section 2(52) of the CGST Act, 2017, goods means movable property other than money and securities, but includes actionable claims, which is the reverse of the Sale of Goods Act position on actionable claims. Article 366(12) of the Constitution says goods includes all materials, commodities and articles.
Examiners test the exclusions (money and actionable claims), the inclusion of shares and growing crops, the existing, future and specific classification, and the contrast between statutory definitions.
What the law says
(7) “goods” means every kind of moveable property other than actionable claims and money; and includes stock and shares, growing crops, grass, and things attached to or forming part of the land which are agreed to be severed before sale or under the contract of sale;
(8) a person is said to be “insolvent” who has ceased to pay his debts in the ordinary course of business, or cannot pay his debts as they become due, whether he has committed an act of insolvency or not;
Clause (7) defines goods; clauses (6) and (14) future and specific goods
(1) The goods which form the subject of a contract of sale may be either existing goods, owned or possessed by the seller, or future goods.
(2) There may be a contract for the sale of goods the acquisition of which by the seller depends upon a contingency which may or may not happen.
(3) Where by a contract of sale the seller purports to effect a present sale of future goods, the contract operates as an agreement to sell the goods.
Existing and future goods
(1) A contract of sale of goods is a contract whereby the seller transfers or agrees to transfer the property in goods to the buyer for a price. There may be a contract of sale between one part-owner and another.
(2) A contract of sale may be absolute or conditional.
(3) Where under a contract of sale the property in the goods is transferred from the seller to the buyer, the contract is called a sale, but where the transfer of the property in the goods is to take place at a future time or subject to some condition thereafter to be fulfilled, the contract is called an agreement to sell.
Contract of sale of goods
Section 2, Consumer Protection Act
(21) “goods” means every kind of movable property and includes “food” as defined in clause (j) of sub-section (1) of section 3 of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 (34 of 2006);
Clause (21): goods for consumer law, includes food
(52) “goods” means every kind of movable property other than money and securities but includes actionable claim, growing crops, grass and things attached to or forming part of the land which are agreed to be severed before supply or under a contract of supply;
Clause (52): goods for GST, includes actionable claims
(12) “goods” includes all materials, commodities, and articles;
Clause (12): constitutional meaning of goods
Example
For example, a farmer's standing wheat crop agreed to be harvested and delivered under a contract of sale is goods under Section 2(7), while a debt owed to him by a trader, being an actionable claim, is not.
For the exam
- Section 2(7) SGA: movable property except actionable claims and money.
- Includes stock and shares, growing crops, grass, and things agreed to be severed from land.
- Future goods (Section 2(6)) are made or acquired after the contract; a present sale of them is an agreement to sell.
- Specific goods are identified and agreed upon at the time of the contract (Section 2(14)).
- CGST Act includes actionable claims in goods; the SGA excludes them.
1,906 questions in the Law Maker question bank use this term. Practise Partnership and Sale of Goods Acts questions
Related terms
- Specific goodsGoods identified and agreed upon at the time a contract of sale is made (Section 2(14) of the Sale of Goods Act, 1930).
- Future goodsGoods to be manufactured, produced or acquired by the seller after the contract of sale is made (Section 2(6) of the Sale of Goods Act, 1930). A purported present sale of them operates only as an agreement to sell.
- Movable propertyUnder Section 2(21) of the BNS, property of every description except land and things attached to the earth or permanently fastened to anything attached to the earth. Other Acts frame it differently.
- Actionable claimA claim to an unsecured debt, or to a beneficial interest in movable property not in the claimant's possession, which the civil courts recognise as affording grounds for relief.
- SellerA person who sells or agrees to sell goods. Section 2(13) of the Sale of Goods Act, 1930. For the unpaid seller's rights, 'seller' also includes a person in the position of a seller (Section 45(2)).
- BuyerA person who buys or agrees to buy goods. Section 2(1) of the Sale of Goods Act, 1930; the buyer of immovable property has rights and duties under Section 55 of the TPA.
Further reading
Checked 6 November 2026. Statutory text is quoted from the Bare Acts library, taken from India Code. See the full glossary.