INDIAN CONTRACT ACT , 1872

Name- DHRUV SINGH

Course- B.A.LL.B(H)
Enrollment no. – A8111122132
Topic – FREE CONSENT
Submitted to- SANDEEP MISHRA SIR
INDEX :
• DEFINITION
• ESSENTIALS
• EXAMPLES
• CASE LAWS
DEFINITION :
• When an agreement is done with consent and is free
from coercion, fraud, misrepresentation, undue
influence, and mistake. Then the agreement is
considered to be done with free consent.
• Consent is said to be free when it is not caused by- 
• coercion, as defined in section 15, or 
• undue influence, as defined in section 16,or 
• fraud, as defined in section 17, or 
• misrepresentation, as defined in section 18, or 
• mistake, subject to the provisions of sections 20, 21 and
22.
ESSENTIALS :
• Consent should be free from:
1) Coercion
2) fraud 
3) misrepresentation 
4) undue influence 
5) mistake
• COERCION -"Coercion" is the committing, or threatening to
commit, any act forbidden by the Indian Penal Code (45 of
1860) or the unlawful detaining, or threatening to detain, any
property, to the prejudice of any person whatever, with the
intention of causing any person to enter into an agreement.
• FRAUD -A misleading conduct done by someone, with the
objective to get an illegal advantage or to harm someone
else's (victim's) rights is commonly known as Fraud.
Bankruptcy, credit card fraud, frauds done in security and wire
fraud are all examples of fraud that one is vulnerable to in this
world.
• MISREPRESENTATION -In law, any representation by words or
other means made by one person to another that, under the
circumstances, amounts to an assertion not in accordance
with the facts.
• UNDUE INFLUENCE -  A contract is said to be induced by
"undue influence" where the relations subsisting between the
parties are such that one of the parties is in a position to
dominate the will of the other and uses that position to obtain
an unfair advantage over the other.
• MISTAKE - an error in comprehending facts, meaning of words
or the law, which causes one party or both parties to enter
into a contract without understanding the obligations or
results. Such a mistake can entitle one party or both parties to
a rescission (cancellation) of the contract.
Voidability :
• When there is no free consent, then the
voidability of the contract depends on the
option of the aggrieved party.
• An agreement when found to be caused by
coercion, fraud or misrepresentation
becomes voidable at the option of the party
whose consent was caused. On the other
hand, if consent is caused by a bilateral
mistake, the agreement becomes void, and
there is 'no consent'.
Free consent examples :
• Illustration 
1) “A” agrees to sell his land to “B”. “A” has 10 lands in different
places and he wanted to sell the land in the west direction
but “B” wanted the land in the east part. In this case, it is
seen that there is no meeting of minds and the principle
of consensus-ad-idem is violated. Thus the agreement
would be considered void.
2) “A” an old man who stays with “B”, his nephew and he takes
care of him. “B” demanded to get the property of “A” as he
was taking care of him and forces him to sign the papers. In
this case, “A” is under undue influence.
CASE LAWS :
• In the case of Solle v Butcher, it was seen that both the
parties entered into the contract of lease of Flat. Both
the parties believed that the identity of the flat has
changed thus the maximum rent which was GBP 140 per
annum has also changed. But later the court held that
there was no change of identity thus, it was held that
there was a mutual mistake of fact and thus the contract
was declared to be void.