Legal Reasoning: Void Agreements for CLAT 2020
Introduction
Any agreement between two or more parties that is enforceable by law is a contract. In India, contracts are governed by the Indian Contract Act, 1872 (ICA) which is a statute containing detailed provisions on various aspects of contracts including execution and enforcement. The various provisions contained in the Act are referred to as “Sections”.
For a detailed study of the basics of contracts, click Here
Section 2(h) of the ICA defines a contract as “an agreement enforceable by law“. This implies that an agreement which is not enforceable by law shall not constitute a valid contract.
Accordingly, either party to such agreement cannot approach a court of law to get the agreement enforced against any/all other parties to the agreement. Agreements which are not enforceable by law are also called “void” agreements.
The ICA specifically declares certain kinds of agreements to be void agreements.
Void Agreements under the Indian Contract Act
The different kinds of agreements which the ICA specifically declares to be void can be understood as follows:
- Agreement without consideration – Each party entering into an agreement promises to do something for the other in return for something being done for them. This is called “consideration” under contract law. For example, if A and B enter into a contract wherein A promises to sell his car to B for Rs. 50,000, the payment of Rs. 50,000 by B forms the consideration for A to sell his car and the sale of a car by A forms consideration for B to pay Rs. 50,000 to him. Section 25 of the ICA states that as a general rule, agreements without consideration are void. If in the above example, A promises to give his car to B for free, such agreement is void because there is no consideration for A to give his car to B due to which it will be justified if A later refuses to give his car to B. The said general rule is subject to certain exceptions. For instance, a gift deed does not involve consideration as the property is transferred under a gift deed only out of love and affection.
- Agreement having unlawful consideration – While each agreement, in order to be valid, must have some consideration, the consideration must also be lawful and not illegal. Section 23 of ICA states that an agreement having an illegal consideration is void. For example, if A agrees to pay Rs. 10,000 to B for the murder of C, the murder of C by B is an unlawful consideration as murder is illegal and an offence under the law. Hence, such agreement shall be void and not enforceable in a court of law by either A or B.
- Agreement in restraint of marriage – Section 26 of the ICA states that an agreement in restraint of the marriage of any person, other than a minor, is void. For example, if A promises to pay B Rs. 10,000 if B remains un-married till the age of 50 years, such agreement is void and not enforceable either by A or B. This restriction does not apply to a person who is minor in age since minors are generally barred from marrying by the personal law governing them.
All content written above is only meant to be read and understood for conceptual clarity and not memorized. The various sections of ICA referred above are only for reference and also need not be memorized.
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Aditya Anand
Contributing author
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