Question 1
All agreements are not contracts; essentials of a valid contract; loan to a minor
18.75 marks
- Time to write
- About 38 minutes
From an older CBCS paper
Question
Question 1 · 18.75 marksQ.1. All agreements will give rise to a contract. Bringing out the essentials of a valid contract, Explain this statement.
A enters into an agreements with B, a minor, for lending him a loan of 1 lakh.Is the agreement one that binds them. If the minor does not return the amount, what legal action can A take.
On attaining majority, can the minor ratify the contract?
Reworded from the university paper; the task is the same. The original paper belongs to the University of Delhi. See DU's question bank.
Before you write
Read off the question and its marks
Read from the question
- ExplainEach point stated, then explained in a line or two.
What the paper leaves open
The paper prints no mark per question (any four of six, equal marks, 75 in all); each question is reckoned here at 18.75 marks.
Write it in this order
- Read; underline the asks; jot your points 2 min
- 1 Agreement and contract (section 10) 4 marks 7 min
- 2 Essentials of a valid contract 6 marks 11 min
- 3 The loan to the minor; restitution 5.8 marks 10 min
- 4 Ratification 3 marks 6 min
- Check: every ask answered, key terms underlined 2 min
Short on time? Trim steps 1–4 evenly rather than skip one: each is capped at its own marks.
Try it first. About 38 minutes for 18.75 marks. Write it out, then open the solution.
Solution
Hover or tap a marked figure, like 72,000, to see how it is made and where else it appears.
All agreements are not contracts. The statement as made is not correct. Under section 10 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872, an agreement is a contract only when it is made with the free consent of parties who are competent to contract, for a lawful consideration and a lawful object, and it is not expressly declared void. An agreement that lacks any of these, a social agreement or one with a minor, for example, is not a contract. All contracts are agreements, but all agreements are not contracts.
1Sixteen-year-old Dev, school bag still on, signs for a new cycle on credit.
Section 11A person who has not attained the age of majority (18 years) is not competent to contract.
2In court, the seller throws up his hands: the law never counted Dev's signature.
Agreement is voidThe minor cannot be made to repay as on a contract.
3Dev had claimed to be older—so the judge makes him return the cycle he still holds, and nothing more.
RestitutionWhere a minor obtains property or money by falsely representing himself to be a major, the court may, on equitable grounds, order him to restore what he still holds; he is not liable for any amount he has already spent.
Essentials of a valid contract:
- Agreement: an offer and its acceptance, between two or more parties.
- Free consent: consent not caused by coercion, undue influence, fraud, misrepresentation or mistake (s. 14).
- Competent parties: every person is competent who is of the age of majority, of sound mind and not disqualified by law (s. 11).
- Lawful consideration and lawful object (s. 23).
- Not expressly declared void (ss. 24 to 30).
- Intention to create legal relations, and terms that are certain and capable of performance; and any writing, witnessing or registration the law requires.
The loan to the minor. A minor is not competent to contract, and an agreement with him is void ab initio; in the leading case the minor was not liable to pay anything to the lender. The agreement between A and the minor B is not binding on them, and A cannot sue B to recover the 1 lakh as a debt. A minor may always plead minority; but if B still has the money, the court may, on equitable principles, order him to restore it (restitution), though he is not liable for what he has spent.
Ratification. Suppose B, after coming of age, promises A afresh that he will repay the 1 lakh. That promise binds him no more than the first: the only thing given for it is money advanced in his minority under a void agreement, which is no consideration in law. Nor can B adopt the original agreement, since an agreement void from the start has nothing that a later act can confirm.
Where the 18.75 marks sit
| # | Component | Marks |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Agreement and contract (section 10) | 4 |
| 2 | Essentials of a valid contract | 6 |
| 3 | The loan to the minor; restitution | 5.75 |
| 4 | Ratification | 3 |
| Total | 18.75 |
Report a problemopens an email to admin@getkunji.com with the question IDBLH20OC-Q1already filled in.