What is Free Consent in Indian Contact Act || Law Of Contact || Story Of Law ||

What is Free Consent in Indian Contact Act

Definition of Consent
One of the essential of a valid contract mentioned in Section 10 of the Indian Contact Act is that the parties should enter into the contract with their free consent. According to Section 14, consent is said to be free when it is not caused by -

1. Coercion, as defined in Section 15;
2. Undue Influence, as defined in Section 16;
3. Fraud, as defined in Section 17;
4. Misrepresentation, as defined in Section 18;
5. Mistake, subject to the provisions of Section 20, 21 and 22.

Section 13 defined "Consent" as follows :
"Two or more persons are said to consent when they agree upon the same thing in the same sense."
If the consent of one of the parties in not free consent, i.e., it has been caused by one or the other of the above stated factors, the contact is not a valid one. Whn consent to an agreement is caused by coercion, undue influence, fraud or misrepresentation, the agreement is a contact voidable at the option of the party whose consent was so caused. If however, the consent is caused by mistake, the agreement is void.

Coercion

Definition - Section 15 of the Indian Contact Act has defined "Coercion" as follows :
"Coercion" defined, "Coercion" is the committing, or threatening to commit, any act forbidden by the Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860) or the unlawful detained or threatening to detain, any property, to the prejudice of any person whatever, with the intention of causing any person to enter into an agreement.
Essential Ingredients of Coercion
Following are the essential ingredients of coercion :

1. Committing or threatening to commit any act forbidden by Indian Penal Code; or
2. Unlawfully detaining or threatening to detain any property; or
3. With the intention of causing any person to enter into an agreement;
4. Coercion may proceed from anybody, even a person who is not a party to the contract;
5. It is immaterial whether the Indian Penal Code is or is not in force at the place where the coercion employed. If the suit is constituted in India, the above provision will apply.

Threat to Commit Suicide
A question arises whether threat to Commit suicide to coercion within the meaning of Section 15 of the Indian Contact Act. According to this section committing or threatening to Commit an act forbidden by the Indian Penal Code is a coercion. Suicide as also a "threat to Commit suicide" is not punishable, but an "attempt to commit suicide" is an offense punishable under Section 30 of the Indian Penal Code.

Read More : || Mohori Bibee vs Dharmodas Ghose - Case Study Fully Explained ||

Undue Influence

Undue means more that what is required unnecessary, unwarranted. Influence means convincing the mind of the counter party. Therefore Undue Influence means playing with emotionally and psychologically with counter party. Where Coercion putting physical pressure. Undue Influence putting mental pressure. It's like blackmailing someone or playing with the emotion with someone. Section 16, of the Indian Contract Act defines Undue Influence.

Fraud

Section 17, describes fraud and lists the acts that amount to fraud, which are a false claim, active concealment, promise without the intention of carrying it out, any other deceptive act, or any act declared fraudulent. To constitute fraud, the contracting party, or any other individual with his connivance, or his agent, or to induce him to enter into the agreement, should have performed such acts. The parties have no duty to speak about facts likely to affect the consent of the other party to the contract, and mere silence does not amount to fraud unless the circumstance of the case shows that there is a duty to speak or silence equivalent to speech.

Misrepresentation

A misrepresentation is an untrue statement of a material fact made by one party which affects the other party's decision in corresponding to a contract. If the misrepresentation is identity, the contract can be declared void and depending on the situation, the unfavourably impacted party may seek damages. In such a contract dispute, the party who made the misrepresentation becomes the defendant and the aggrieved party is the plaintiff. Misrepresentation is defined under Section 18 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872 which says, a misrepresentation is a form of a statement made preceding to the contact being completed. There are three types of misrepresentation present in the contract :

• Fraudulent Misrepresentation;
• Negligent Misrepresentation;
• Innocent Misrepresentation.

Read Also : || Voidable Contract Meaning, Explanation with Case Law ||

Mistake

Mistake’ is not defined in the Indian Contract Act. Section 20, 21 and 22 deals with the concept related to mistake. ‘Mistake’ can be defined as any action, decision or judgement that produced an unwanted and unintentional result. A Mistake is said to have occurred where parties intending to do one thing by error do something else. Philips v. Brooks Ltd is an English contact law case concerning mistake. It was held in this case that a person is deemed to contract with the person in front of them unless they can substantially prove that they instead of them intended to deal with another person. A mistake is of two types :

• Mistake of Law,
• Mistake of Fact.

Short Note : || Quantum Meruit Meaning with Illustration ||