If consent is given in one of the four circumstances above, the contract will be deemed voidable and will only be deemed enforceable at the option of the injured party (section 19 of the Indian Contracts Act, 1872). * If there is no consent, there can be no contract at all and the agreement is considered null and void. A contract induced by coercion is either void or voidable. If the constraint is for one party to take the hand of the others as a mechanical instrument to sign its name in a contract, then the contract is invalid from the beginning because the victim does not intend to perform the action. The result is the same if the victim is forced to sign a contract at gunpoint without knowing its contents. These are very unusual situations. In most cases of coercion, the contract is voidable and the person who has been subjected to coercion can ask the court to declare the contract unenforceable. Illustration – Party A uses criminal intimidation as a means of reaching an agreement with B on the high seas while aboard an English ship. Later, A B filed a lawsuit for breach of contract in Mumbai. Although this Act is not a criminal offence under English law and Section 506 of the Indian Penal Code was not in force at the time the Law took place, it is said that A applied coercion. In KIRAN BALA v. BHAIRE PRASAD SRIVASTAVA (1982), the appellant`s first marriage was annulled on the grounds that she was not of sound mind at the time of the marriage.
She was married to the accused for the second time and kept secret the reason for the annulment of the first marriage of the groom and his parents. The court ruled that the groom`s consent had been obtained by fraud and was overturned by a decree under the Hindu Marriage Act. The parties to a contract can agree on the same thing in the same sense, but simple consent is not enough, consent must also be free to complete the validity of a contract. Under Article 16(2), a person is deemed to have a dominant position where- Undue influence Undue influence is an unlawful control exercised by one person over another person in order to replace the will of the first person with the will of the other person. It usually occurs in two types of situations. In the first case, a person takes advantage of another person`s psychological weakness to get them to accept a contract that they would not otherwise accept under normal circumstances. The second situation involves undue influence on the basis of a fiduciary relationship that exists between the parties. This happens when one party adopts a position of trust over the other, such as in family or professional-client relationships. Whether the consent of each contracting party to the contract is genuine or whether it is triggered by factors that impede the exercise of free choice determines the existence of undue influence. Mere legitimate persuasion and suggestion that do not destroy free will are not considered undue influence and have no influence on the legality of a contract. If a treaty has the potential to influence the general public, bylaws can dictate the terms of the contract. For example, insurance contracts may include conditions that are restricted by law so that the person carrying the insurance has access to resources if they are injured in an accident.
In the case of insurance contracts, even if a policyholder accepts the same things in the same way, the contract is still not valid if he did not have his free consent when signing the contract. * If there is consent but no free consent, the contract will be deemed voidable at the choice of the party whose free consent has not been obtained. (3) The third type is when one party acts innocently and causes the other party to make errors concerning the subject matter of the contract. Article 20 provides that if both parties do not agree on the same thing in the same way and are therefore subject to an error of fact essential to the contract, they must have made a bilateral error. This Agreement shall be deemed void. If both parties wish to enter into an agreement, they may use a contract that sets out the rights and obligations of all parties. There are several important elements in a contract, including consent. In principle, consent is the parties` understanding of the contract. For a contract to be binding and sound, this consensus must have been reached without any form of coercion, fraud, undue influence, fraud or pressure. In addition, the contract must be free from errors or misrepresentations on the part of both parties.
If consent is obtained by any of these means, the contract will be considered void and unenforceable by law. What a party secretly wanted is irrelevant if its behavior seems to show its approval. However, in a few cases where the intention of the parties is not expressed, their subjective intentions may create a binding contract if both believe in the same terms of the contract. For example, Ankita agrees to sell her house in Ira. Ankita owns three houses and wants to sell the house in Delhi. Ira thinks she is buying her house in Mumbai. There is no consensus-ad-idem between Ankita and Ira. Therefore, there is no consent and therefore no contract between them.
If the consent is based on an error of fact on the part of both parties, the contract is deemed null and void. Both Contracting Parties must give their consent voluntarily. If there are certain errors or if one party attempts to deceive or pressure the other, consent will not be considered voluntary or genuine. .
