Course

Unit 1

INTRODUCTION TO LAW OF CONTRACT

History and nature of contractual obligations; Law of Contract or Law of Contracts Definitions; Proposal and acceptance – forms, essential elements, communication and revocation; Proposal and Invitations for proposal; Floating Offers; Tenders; Standard form contract: principles of protection against the possibility of exploitation, judicial approach to such contracts, exemption clauses; clash between two standard forms of contracts; Law Commission of India 199th Report 2006.

Unit 2

CAPACITY TO CONTRACT AND CONSIDERATION

Capacity to contract – Incapacity arising out of status and mental defect; Minor’s agreements; Definition of ‘minor’; Restitution in cases of minor’s agreements; Agreements beneficial and detrimental to a minor; Agreements made on behalf of a minor; Fraud by a minor; Doctrine of Estoppel to minor’s agreements; Evaluation of the law relating to minor’s agreements; Other illustrations of incapacity to contract. Consideration – Meaning, Kinds, Essential Elements; Doctrine of nudum pactum; Privity of contract and of consideration and exceptions; Adequacy of consideration; Present, past and adequate consideration; Unlawful consideration and its effects; Views of Law Commission of India on consideration; Evaluation of the doctrine of consideration.

Unit 3

VALID, VOID AND VOIDABLE CONTRACTS

Legality of object – Void agreements, Object of contract and unlawful object, Forbidden by law; Fraudulent; Immoral; Against public policy. Factors vitiating validity of a contract; free consent; Coercion; Undue Influence; Misrepresentation; Fraud; Mistake. Distinction between void, voidable, illegal and unlawful agreements and their effects. Legality of contract – valid, void and voidable contracts; void agreements – meaning, types, Partnership Act section 11 restrictions, trade combinations, agreements in restraint of legal proceedings, its exceptions; Uncertain agreements; Wagering agreement and exception.

Unit 4

DISCHARGE OF CONTRACT

By performance – conditions and process of valid tender of performance, performance of reciprocal promises; time as essence of contract; by breach, anticipatory breach and present breach; impossibility of performance, theories of frustration, effect of frustration, frustration and restitution; by period of limitation; by agreement, rescission and alteration, their effect, remission and waiver of performance, extension of time, accord and satisfaction.

Unit 5

REMEDIES AND QUASI- CONTRACT

Relations resembling contracts- supplies to person incompetent to contract, benefit received under voidable or void agreement, Damages- remoteness of damages, ascertainment of damages; Restitution; Injunction- when granted and when refused; Specific performance.

Course Objectives 

1. To impart a foundational understanding of the nature, scope and essential principles of contract law, including the legal requirements for the formation, performance, discharge and enforceability of contracts under the Indian Contract Act, 1872.
2. To enable students to identify and explain the key elements of a valid contract, such as offer and acceptance, consideration, capacity to contract, free consent, legality of object and intention to create legal relations.
3. To develop analytical legal reasoning and problem-solving skills, enabling students to interpret statutory provisions and judicial precedents, distinguish between agreements and contracts, and apply legal rules to practical fact situations and case studies.
4. To introduce students to the concepts and consequences of breach of contract, including remedies such as damages, specific performance and injunctions, and to cultivate the ability to advise on contractual disputes in commercial and everyday contexts.
5. To foster the ability to critically evaluate contemporary and business-oriented contractual issues, including special forms of contracts and the relevance of contract law in commercial transactions and entrepreneurial practice, bridging legal theory with professional practice.

Course Outcome

By the end of the course the learner would be able to:

1. To explain the foundational concepts, nature, and evolution of contractual obligations within the Indian legal framework.
2. To interpret and apply the legal principles governing offer, acceptance, capacity, and consideration in contractual obligations and contractual relations.
3. To distinguish between valid, void, voidable, and illegal contracts and their consequences.
4. To evaluate various modes of valid discharge and to analyze the effect of novation, alteration, rescission, waiver, accord and satisfaction on discharge of contract.
5. To analyze the remedies available for breach of contract, including damages, specific performance, injunctions, and quasi-contractual obligations.

Teaching Methodology: Lecture, Group Discussion, PowerPoint Presentation etc. as per the requirement of each module.

Prescribed Legislations:

1. The Indian Contract Act, 1872
2. The Indian Partnership Act, 1932
3. The Specific Relief Act, 1963

Suggested Readings:

1. Pollock & Mulla, Indian Contract & Specific Relief Act (edited by R Yashod Vardhan and Chitra Narayan) 15th Ed. 2017.
2. J. Beatson, Anson’s Law of Contract (28th ed., 2002).
3. H.K. Saharay, Dutt on Contract – The Indian Contract Act, 1872 (10th ed., 2006).
4. Avtar Singh, Law of Contract and Specific Relief (11th ed., 2013).
5. Sachin Rastogi, Insights into E-Contracts in India, 2014.
6. R K Singh, Law Relating to Electronic Contracts, 2013
7. M.P.Furmston, Cheshire, Fifoot and Furmston’s, Law of Contract (15th ed., 2007)