Competency to Contract - Indian Contract Act, 1872

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering the concepts, statutory sections, legal definitions, and landmark case laws related to Competency to Contract and Free Consent under the Indian Contract Act, 1872.

Section 10 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872

The statutory provision declaring that all agreements are contracts if they are made by the free consent of parties competent to contract, for a lawful consideration and with a lawful object, and are not expressly declared to be void.

Competency to Contract (Section 11)

The qualification under law where every person is competent to contract who is of the age of majority according to the law to which they are subject, is of sound mind, and is not disqualified from contracting by any law to which they are subject.

Legal Concept of a Person (Salmond)

Any being whom the law regards as capable of rights and duties; any being so capable is a person whether human or not, and no being lacking that capacity is a person in legal theory.

Definition of Person (Savigny)

The theoretical definition characterizing a person strictly as the subject or bearer of a right.

Person (General Clauses Act, 1897)

Under Section 3 (42), a term defined to include any company, association, or body of individuals, whether incorporated or not.

Mohori Bibee V/S Dharmodas Ghose, (1903)

The landmark Privy Council case that definitively settled that a contract entered into by a minor is void ab initio (void from the beginning), meaning there never was and never could have been a contract.

Section 64 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872

A provision governing the consequences of rescission of voidable contracts, which applies strictly to contracts made by persons competent to contract and does not apply to infants.

Section 65 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872

A provision governing the obligations of a person who has received an advantage under a void agreement or contract that becomes void, presupposing an agreement between competent parties and therefore inapplicable to minors.

Section 41 of the Specific Relief Act, 1877

A statutory section providing that on adjudging the cancellation of an instrument, the court may require the party to whom such relief is granted to make any compensation to the other which justice may require.

Minor as a Beneficiary

The legal rule allowing a minor to enforce a contract or promissory note executed in their favor when it provides a benefit to the minor and imposes no duty or obligation upon them.

Claim for Necessaries (Section 68)

The statutory right of a person supplying an incompetent person (or anyone they are legally bound to support) with necessaries suited to their condition in life to be reimbursed solely from the property of that incapable person.

Necessaries (Chapple V/S Anne Cooper)

Things without which an individual cannot reasonably exist, including articles and services fit to maintain a particular person in their station in life, excluding mere luxuries and excessively expensive items.

Ratification

The subsequent approval or adoption of an earlier action; a minor cannot ratify a void agreement upon attaining the age of majority because the agreement remains void ab initio and lacks fresh consideration.

Doctrine of Restitution (Minors)

The equitable principle holding that a minor may be compelled to restore property or goods obtained by fraudulently misrepresenting their age only if the property remains traceable in their possession, stopping where repayment begins.

Rule of Estoppel against Minor

The legal doctrine under Section 115 of the Indian Evidence Act that does not operate against a minor; a minor who enters a contract by falsely misrepresenting their age is still permitted to plead minority as a defense.

Agent (Section 182)

A person employed to do any act for another, or to represent another in dealings with third persons.

Minor as an Agent (Section 184)

The rule providing that any person may become an agent between a principal and third persons, but a minor or person of unsound mind cannot be held responsible or liable to their principal.

Sound Mind for Contracting (Section 12)

The condition of being capable of understanding a contract and forming a rational judgment as to its effect upon one's interests at the exact time when the contract is made.

Consent (Section 13)

The state when two or more persons agree upon the same thing in the same sense.

Free Consent (Section 14)

Consent that is not caused by coercion, undue influence, fraud, misrepresentation, or mistake.

Coercion (Section 15)

The committing, or threatening to commit, any act forbidden by the Indian Penal Code, or the unlawful detaining, or threatening to detain, any property, to the prejudice of any person, with the intention of causing any person to enter into an agreement.