An Introduction
If we look into the history of the Indian contract act 1872, it can be considered as one of the oldest laws related to business in the country. Indian Contract Act 1872 was enacted on 1st September of that year. The law applied to almost all the states of India except Jammu & Kashmir. The Indian contract law is the main law that regulates any contracts signed in India. There are 266 sections in the law. Let us learn some important points related to the IPCC contract act notes.
What is a Contract?
The Indian contract act defines all the important laws related to the contract. Therefore, it is important to know what a contract is. It is an accepted agreement or proposal; that is legally defined, understood, and enforceable by law. It defines the special rights of the party and all the obligations and rules introduced, defined, discussed, and agreed upon by all the signers of the contract.
There are certain essentials related to any contract.
It has to involve at least two parties
The content of the contract must clearly define and discuss the intent of legal obligations.
The contract can also have special provisions, which, when not fulfilled by any of the parties, renders the contract ineffective.
The contract must have clearly defined terms in its list.
The contract might also have specific points related to any performance. The performance has to be executed by either or both parties.
For a successful contract, the consent of both parties is necessary.
All the parties in a contract should be competent enough to sign the contract.
All the signing parties must consider getting something in return in the form of rights, profits, interests, etc.
The contract will be deemed illegal if it is unlawful, can challenge or attack any section of any law, cause harm to any individual, or if the Court considers it to be immoral.
Types of Contracts
From the beginning of the history of the Indian contract act 1872, all the IPCC contract act notes defined different types of contracts. Based on validity, the types of contracts are valid contracts, agreements or void contracts, voidable contracts, illegal contracts, and enforceable contracts. On the basis of formation, the types of contracts are express contracts, quasi-contract, implied contracts, and E-contract. Based on performance, contract types are executed contracts, unilateral contracts, executory contracts, and bilateral contracts.
What is an Offer or a Proposal?
According to Section 2 (a) of the Indian Contract Act, 1872, the proposal is defined as the offer placed by a party for another party to do or abstain from doing an act, where the proposer expects to obtain consent from the other person. The person making the proposal is called the offeror or promisor, while the party accepting the proposal is called the acceptor or the promisee. The offer can be positive or negative.
Acceptance
According to Section 2 (b) of the Indian Contract Act, 1872, acceptance is defined as the act of the receiving party in providing consent to the proposer. The consent from the acceptor turns the proposal into a promise.
Communication of Acceptance and Offer
Any offer after being presented by the offeror cannot be revoked. However, communication is not complete by such an act. Rather it is completed when all the norms of the offer are clearly described and are accepted by the acceptor. The communication is generally completed when it is conducted face-to-face; in terms of business letters and e-communications, the timeline of communication is necessary in this case.
What are the types of offers?
The first step in the formation of a contract is the formulation of an offer. Since acceptance can only be made to an offer that has already been stated, prior acceptance to any offer cannot be provided, therefore, an offer is very important for formulating a valid contract. Offers in a contract can be of different types like
Express offer: these are the offers that are made in the form of words, that is, these offers are in a written form.
Implied offers: these are the offers that are made in any other way but are not in the form of words. For example, a bid made in an auction is a type of implied offer as it is not written in the form of words.
General offer: this is a kind of offer that is made to the world at a large, that is, these offers are not made to any specific person but to the complete world. If the conditions in an offer are such that they can be completed by many, then, in that case, the offer is known as the general offer of continuing nature, but if an offer made is such that only a single person can complete it, for example, offers made to find a missing person, then in such a case the offers are closed as soon as the first information is collected.
Specific offer: these offers are made to only a specific person and, therefore, such offers can be accepted by that specific person only and not by anyone else. In case of specific offers made for a certain personal service, then in that case no other party has the authority to come in and take a stance that he is the party with which the contract has been made.
Cross offer: this is a type of offer in which two parties make a similar offer to each other without any prior information about the offer made by the other. Cross offers are not considered valid offers because there is no mutual acceptance in this case. This is because for an offer to be valid there should be an offer and an acceptance for the same, but in the case of a cross offer, there is only a simultaneous offer and no acceptance.
Counteroffer: this is the form of offer framed by the accepting party with certain modifications in the original offer, that is, you accept the original offer but with certain amendments in the original offer, thereby giving a new offer in response to the original offer. This is known as partial acceptance, that is, the accepting party agrees to certain facts in the offer which are beneficial to them and rejects the other clause of the offer. For an offer to be valid, complete acceptance is required and not partial acceptance.
Revocation of Offers
An offer can be revoked if it is not found to be fruitful by any of the parties. Every offer has a defined revocation period, after which it cannot be revoked. Moreover, it can be revoked before the completion of acceptance. The acceptance can also be revoked by the acceptor.
Section 62 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872
According to Section 62 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872, if any of the parties prefer to propose any new contract or modify the previous one, then the previous contract will not need to be followed. The contractors can rescind the contract as well. However, as per Section 62 of the Indian Contract Act, a new contract will only be allowed to be proposed when all the parties agree to it.
FAQs on Overview of the Indian Contract Act, 1872
1. What is a Contract?
A contract is any offer that is being placed between two or more parties. According to the history of the Indian contract act 1872, the Government of India has defined specific laws to support any contract. According to the law, two or more than two parties have to be involved in any contract. In the contract, any offer will be placed between the parties, when the points mentioned in the offer will be clearly defined. The offer will be placed by the offeror, while the other parties who need to speak about their opinion on the matter are called acceptors.
2. What are the different types of Contracts?
According to the IPCC contract act notes, there are different types of contracts depending on a variety of parameters. On the basis of formation, the types of contracts are express contracts, quasi-contract, implied contract, and E-contract. On the basis of validity, the types of contracts are valid contracts, agreements or void contracts, voidable contracts, illegal contracts, and enforceable contracts. Based on performance, the contract types are executed contracts, unilateral contracts, executory contracts, and bilateral contracts. These different types of contracts are defined in the Indian contract act and have been incorporated from time to time.
3. What is the Proposal, Acceptance and Communication needed for a Contract?
Every contract has some salient points which depict some future action. These are called proposals or offers. The party that offers these proposals are called proposers. All the other parties who react to such offers are called acceptors. The acceptors can accept the proposal, reject it, or put it on hold. Proper communication is necessary for both the proposer and the acceptor. Face-to-face communication is always fruitful. For business letters or e-communications, the timing of the communication is necessary for the success of the communication and the related contract.
4. What are the essentials of a valid contract as provided by the Indian Contract Act, 1872?
There are various elements that are essential for a contract to be considered valid which are:
The contract must involve at least two parties for it to be valid wherein, one party will make the proposal and the other will accept it.
Both the parties involved in a contract are required to have a legal existence like a company or organization or they must be natural persons.
There must be a clear intention of the parties involved in the contract to create a legal relationship between them.
The agreements must be enforceable by the law to consider them as valid contracts.
The case-specific contract must fulfill the special conditions attached to it, in order to declare them as legal and valid.
There should be a certain meaning of the contract and nothing should be left undeclared in a contract.
The agreement or the contract should be framed with clauses and conditions that are possible to perform.
The contract should be signed with the free consent of both the parties involved, that is, neither of the parties should be coerced, influenced, tricked, or misrepresented.
The contract must be designed in a way that the parties involved in the contract gain some rights, profit, or interest.
5. What are the criteria for a party to be competent for a contract according to section 11 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872?
For an individual to be competent for a contract, considerations like their age, mental status, and they shouldn't be disqualified from contracting by any law to which they are a part. The major qualifications for a person to be eligible to sign a contract are:
The person’s age must be at least 18 years or more.
The person or the party into consideration must be able to understand all the terms and promises stated in the contract at the time of framing of the contract itself.
The party or the person into consideration must not be disqualified from any legal ramifications.
