Legal Llama

  Specific performance of part of contract [S. 12 of Specific Performance Act] Section 12 deals with specific performance of a part of a contract. It provides in clause (1) that as a general rule, the court shall not grant specific performance of a part of a contract. The section, however, recognises in clauses (2) to (4) certain exceptions to the above rule. Whether specific performance of a part of the contract is to be ordered or not has been wholly left by the section to one deciding factor, namely, the proportion the part which can be performed bears to that which cannot be performed. Where the part which cannot be performed bears only a small proportion to the whole in value and the unperformed part can be compensated adequately in terms of money, the court may order specific performance of one part and compensation for the other. A slightly different principle comes into play where the part which cannot be performed forms a considerable part of the whole. In such cases t...

  AGREEMENT BY WAY OF WAGER (SECTION 30) Section 30 declares wagering agreements as void. The Section is as follows: Agreement by way of wager void and no suit shall be brought for recovering anything alleged to be won on any wager, or entrusted to any person to abide by the result of any game or other uncertain event which any wager is made. Exception in favour of certain prizes for horse racing-This Section shall not be deemed to render unlawful a subscription or contribution, or agreement to subscribe or contribute, made or entered into for or toward any place, prize or sum of money, of the value or amount of five hundred rupees or upwards, to be awarded to the winner or winners of any horse race. Section 294-A of the Indian Penal Code not affected-Nothing in this Section shall be deemed to legalize any transaction connected with horse racing, to which the provisions. of Section 294-A of the Indian Penal Code apply." What is a wagering agreement The Contract Act doe...

  CONTINGENT CONTRACTS What is a contingent contract According to Section 31, a contingent contract is a contract to do or not to do something, if some event, collateral to such contract, does not happen. When the contract is dependent or conditional upon the happening or non-happening of a certain future event, the contract is contingent. For example, A contracts to pay B Rs. 10,000 if B's house is burnt, this is a contingent contract. (Illustration to Section 31). The payment of the amount is contingent on the happening of a collateral event, i.e., the burning of the house. All contracts of insurance or indemnity aim at payment of money only after a certain event happens, or the loss is caused, and, therefore, they are contingent contracts. A wagering agreement is also a contingent contract, but that type of contingent contract has been specifically declared to be void by Section 30. A distinction is to be drawn between a contract under which a present obligation is created...

  Effect of flaw in consent Section 19 deals with the effect of flaw in consent caused by coercion, misrepresentation and fraud and Section 19-A when the consent has been obtained by undue influence. The relevant provisions-contained in these Sections are as under: 19. Voidability of agreement without free consent- When consent to an agreement is caused by coercion, fraud or misrepresentation, the agreement is a contract voidable at the option of the party whose consent was so caused. When A party to a contract, whose consent was caused by fraud or misrepresentation, may, if he thinks fit, insist that the contract shall be performed, and that he shall be put in the position in which he would have been if the representation made had been true. 19-A. Power to set aside contract induced by undue influence- When consent to an agreement is caused by undue influence, the agreement is a contract voidable at the option of the party whose consent was so caused. Any such contract may be set ...

FRAUD When the consent of a party to the contract has been obtained by fraud, the consent is not free consent which is necessary for the formation of a valid contract. In such a case the contract is voidable at the option of the party whose consent has been so obtained (Section 19). Fraud or deceit is also a tort, for which an action for damages can also lie. Section 17 defines fraud as follows: "Fraud" means and includes any of the following acts committed by a party to a contract, or with his connivance, or by his agent, with intent to deceive another party thereto or his agent, or to induce him, to enter into the contract: (1) the suggestion, as to a fact, of that which is not true by one who does not believe it to be true; (2) the active concealment of a fact by one having knowledge or belief of the fact; (3) promise made without any intention of performing it (4) any other act fitted to deceive; (5) any such act or omission as the law specially declares to ...