Aamir the owner of a boat, contracts with Bhavesh to take a cargo of jute to Aligarh for sale at that place, starting on a specified day. The boat owing to some unfortunate reasons, could not start at the time appointed,

Section 55 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872 provides for the effect of failure to perform at the time fixed in a contract in which time is essential: If time is of the essence, the party not at fault may void the contract. Even if the contract is not voided, the non-defaulting party is entitled to claim compensation for any loss caused by the delay. Section 73 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872, deals with unliquidated damages. Where the amount of compensation claimed for a breach of contract is left to be assessed by the Court, damages claimed are called unliquidated damages. According to Section 73, when a contract has been broken, a party who suffers by such breach is entitled to receive, from the party who has broken the contract, compensation for any loss or damage, caused to him thereby, which naturally arose in the usual course of things from such breach or which the parties knew, when they made the contract to be likely to result from the breach of it. Such compensation is not to be given for any remote and indirect loss or damage sustained by reason of the breach. Unliquidated damages are of several kinds including ordinary damages. Ordinary Damages: These are restricted to pecuniary compensation to put the injured party in the position he would have been had the contract been performed. It is the estimated amount of loss actually incurred. Thus, it applies only to the proximate consequences of the breach of the contract and the remote consequences are not generally regarded. For example, in a contract for the sale of goods, the damages payable would be the difference between the contract price and the price at which the goods are available on the date of the breach. Thus, in this case ordinary damages may be given, that is, the measure of the compensation payable to Bhavesh by Aamir will be the difference between the price which Bhavesh could have obtained for the cargo at Aligarh at the time when it would have arrived if forwarded in due course and its market price at the time when it actually arrived.