Contract Act 1872 - Free Consent

By Asok Nadhani

Free Consent

5.1 Consent

  i.    Consensus-ad-idem : Consent means assent. Two or more persons are said to consent, when they agree upon the same thing in the same sense i.e., consensus-ad-idem. (s.13)

ii.    Valid contract : To create a valid contract, it is essential that the parties to the contract are ad idem and their consent is free.

5.1.1 Free Consent

i.      The consent is not free when it is affected by any of the following (sec.14) :

-         Mistake (Sec.20 to 22),

-         Coercion (Sec.15),

-         Undue influence (sec. 16),

-         Fraud (Sec. 17),

-         Misrepresentation (Sec. 18)

ii.    Contract voidable : A contract is voidable at the option of the Party whose consent was affected by Coercion, Undue influence, Fraud or Misrepresentation.

iii.    Agreement void : If both the parties to a contract are at mistake, the agreement is void.

iv.    Contract not void or voidable : In case of unilateral mistake (i.e., where only one party is at mistake) and in case of mistake of Indian Law, the contract does not become void or voidable. (s.21)

For more details, refer to Mercantile law, by Asok Nadhani, BPB Publications, www.bpbonline.com, bpbpublications@gmail.com