Indian

Contract Act,
1872.
தமிழில்
 இந் திய
ஒப் பந் தச்
சட்டம் ,1872
தமிழில்
Important
Definition
Offer (i.e. Proposal) [section 2(a)]

When one
person signifies
he is said to to another his
make a willingness to do
proposal. or to abstain
from doing
anything,

with a view to
obtaining the
assent of that
other person
either to such
act or
abstinence,
Acceptance 2(b)
Agreement 2(e)

Every promise and set of promises In short,

forming consideration for each other is Agreement = Offer + Acceptance.
an agreement.
Consideration 2(d)

When at the desire of the promisor,

the promisee or any other person has done or

abstained from doing something or does or
abstains from doing something or promises to
do or abstain from doing something,

such act or abstinence or promise is called a

consideration for the promise.
Contract 2(h)

An agreement enforceable by law is a contract

Contract = Agreement + Enforceability

சட்டத்தால் அமல் படுத்தக் கூடிய உடன்பாடட

ஒப் பந் தம் ஆகும் .
Process

OFFER ACCEPTANCE AGREEMENT CONSIDERATION CONTRACT

(PROPOSAL)
Essentials of a
Valid Contract
Offer and Acceptance

There must be two parties namely one party making other party accepting it
to an agreement the offer and the
Legal Relationship

The parties must have the intention to An agreement of Social or domestic

create legal relationship between them. nature is not at all a contract.
Lawful Consideration
(quid pro quo)

As per Contract Act under A contract without It may be in cash or kind or in Consideration must not be
Sec.2 (d) Consideration consideration becomes any form as specified in the unlawful, immoral or
means something in return. invalid. act. opposed to the public policy.
Lawful Object (Section 23)

The object of agreement should It must not be immoral, illegal or Two persons cannot enter into an
be lawful and legal. opposed to public policy. agreement to do a criminal act.
 Consent of the parties must be free and
genuine.

Free Consent Consent means agreeing upon same thing

(Section 13 & in the same sense at the same time i.e. there
should be consensus – ad – idem.
14)
Consent is said to be free when it is not
caused by coercion, undue influence, fraud,
misrepresentation or mistake.
Capacity of Parties (Section 11)

The parties to a contract must have capacity (legal ability) to make valid contract.

The Indian contract Act specifies that every person is competent to contract provided
he

(iii) is not disqualified from contracting

by any law to which he is subject to, an
(i) is of the age of majority according to alien enemy, foreign sovereigns and
(ii) who is of sound mind and
the Law which he is subject to, and accredited representative of a foreign
state, insolvents and convicts are not
competent to contract.
Certainty of Terms (Section 29)

The agreement should be clear to The agreement must be precise.

the parities of the agreement.
For example X informs Y “I agree to sell my bike”.
X has four bikes.
Here nothing is stated about which bike he is
going to sell.
There is no clarity of terms.
Possibility of Performance
(Section 56)

The terms of the agreement should be capable of

performance.

An agreement to do an act, impossible in itself cannot be

enforced.

For example A agrees to B to The agreement is void because the act in

itself is impossible to be performed from
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 The agreement should be such
that it should be capable of
being enforced by law.
Not declared
Void
Certain agreements have
been expressly declared illegal
or void by the law.
 A contract may be oral or in writing. Where a particular type
of contract is required by law to be in writing and registered,
it must comply with necessary formalities as to writing,
registration and attestation.

If legal formalities are not carried out then the contract is

Necessary not enforceable by law.

Legal
Formalities For example: A promise to pay a time barred debt must be
in writing.

All Contracts are Agreements, but all Agreements are not

Contracts
Classification
of contracts
TYPES OF
CONTRACTS
 Classification of contracts
 Validity
 Formation
 Performance
On the Basis of the
validity
 An agreement which fulfils all the essentials
prescribed by law on the basis of its creation.

For example S offers to sell his car for

Rs.2,00,000 to T.

Valid contract
T agrees to buy it.

It is a Valid Contract.
Void Contract (2(j))

A contract which ceases to be A contract which does not satisfy For example A contract between
enforceable by law. any of the essential elements of a drug dealers to buy and sell drugs
valid contract is said to be void. is a void contract.
Voidable Contract 2(i)

 An agreement which is enforceable by

law at the option of one or more parties
but not at the option of the other or
others is a voidable contract.
 This is the result of
 Coercion,
 Undue Influence,
 Fraud And
 Misrepresentation.
Illegal Contract

It is a contract which is forbidden by law.

All illegal agreements are Void but all void agreements or contracts are not necessarily illegal.

Contract that is immoral or opposed to public policy are illegal in nature.

i. Unlike illegal agreements there is no punishment to the parties to a void ii. Illegal agreements are void from the very beginning but sometimes valid
agreement. contracts may subsequently become void.
Unenforceable Contract

 Where a contract is unenforceable because of some technical

defect i.e. absence in writing barred by imitation etc.
 If the parties perform the contract it will be valid, but the court will
not compel them if they do not
On the Basis of
the Formation
 A contract made by word spoken or
written.

According to Section. 9, in so for as the

Express proposal or acceptance of any promise is
made in words, the promise is said to be
Contract express.

For example P says to Q ‘will you buy my

bicycle for Rs.1,000?” Q says to P “Yes”.
Implied Contract

The implied contract is one, which is not Where the proposal or acceptance of For example A gets into a public bus,
expressly written but understood by the any promise is made otherwise than in there is an implied contract that he will
conduct of parties. words, the promise is said to be implied. pay the bus fare.
 It is a contract created by law. Actually,
there is no contract.

Quasi It is based on the principle that “a person

shall not be allowed to enrich himself
Contract unjustly at the expense of the other”.

In other words it is an obligation of one

party to another imposed by law
independent of an agreement between
the parties.
Tacit Contract

 A contract is said to be tacit when it has

to be inferred from the conduct of the
parties.
 For example obtaining cash through
automatic teller machine, sale by fall of
hammer of an auction sale.
III. On the Basis of
Performance
Executed Contract

A contract in which both the parties have For example X contracts to buy a car from
fulfilled their obligations under the contract. Y by paying cash, Y instantly delivers his car.
Executory Contract

A contract in which both the parties are For example A agrees to buy B’s cycle by
yet to fulfil their obligations, it is said to be promising to pay cash on 15th June. B
an executory contract. agrees to deliver the cycle on 20th June
Unilateral Contract

 A unilateral contract is a one

sided contract in which only
one party has performed his
promise or obligation, the other
party has to perform his
promise or obligation.
 For example X promises to pay
Y a sum of Rs.10,000 for the
goods to be delivered by Y.
 X paid the money and

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY

 Y is yet to deliver the goods.
Bilateral Contract

 A contract in which both the parties

commit to perform their respective
promises is called a bilateral
contract.
 For example R offers to sell his fiat car
to S for Rs.10,00,000 on acceptance
of R’s offer by S, there is a promise by
R to Sell the car and there is a
promise by S to purchase the car,
there are two promises.