Q.When is a condition in a contract of sale treated as a warranty?

Section 13 lets a buyer voluntarily give up his stronger remedy for a broken condition, and also automatically downgrades that remedy once he has accepted the goods.

Section 13 of the Sale of Goods Act, 1930 sets out two distinct situations in which a broken CONDITION is reduced to the remedy available for a broken WARRANTY (i.e., damages only, with no right to reject the goods):

1. Section 13(1) — voluntary waiver/election: the buyer may, at his own choice, either WAIVE the condition altogether, or elect to TREAT its breach as a breach of warranty, claiming damages instead of rejecting the goods.
2. Section 13(2) — automatic downgrade on acceptance: where the contract of sale is NOT SEVERABLE (cannot be split into independent parts) and the buyer has already ACCEPTED the goods, or part of them, any breach of a condition to be fulfilled by the seller can THEREAFTER be treated only as a breach of warranty — the buyer LOSES his right to reject the goods — unless a term of the contract, express or implied, says otherwise. …

Students often think 'acceptance of goods' has no legal consequence at all — in fact, Section 13(2) makes acceptance a turning point: it PERMANENTLY converts what would otherwise be a right to reject the goods (for a broken condition) into a mere claim f …