Question 2 (f)
A minor's liability for necessaries
6 marks
- Time to write
- About 12 minutes
- Topic
- Capacity: minors
- Notes
- Crux notes
Question
Question 2 (f) · 6 marks"A minor is liable to pay for life's necessaries". Comment. (6+6+6=18)
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
- CommentA statement to judge: take a stand on it in your first line, and come back to it at the end.
Write it in this order
- Read; underline the asks; jot your points 1 min
- 1 Section 68: reimbursement from property, not personal liability 2 marks 3 min
- 2 Conditions and limit of liability 2 marks 3 min
- 3 Meaning of necessaries, with example 2 marks 3 min
- Check: every ask answered, key terms underlined 2 min
Easy marks
- Step 3 opens with the meaning: a one-line definition, the quickest mark in it.
Short on time? Trim steps 1–3 evenly rather than skip one: each is capped at its own marks.
Try it first. About 12 minutes for 6 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.
Comment. The statement is true only in a limited sense. A minor's agreement is void, but section 68 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872 provides that where a person who cannot contract, or anyone he is legally bound to support, is supplied by another with necessaries suited to his condition in life, the supplier is entitled to be repaid out of the incapable person's property. So the liability is not a contractual one and it is not personal: only the minor's property is liable.
Conditions. To make the minor's estate liable:
- the goods or services must be reasonably necessary for his support in his station in life; and
- the minor must not already have a sufficient supply of them.
The minor is not liable for the price he may have promised, and never for more than the value of the necessaries.
Meaning of necessaries. Necessaries are things essentially needed by the minor, judged by his status in life: utility rather than ornament is the test. They include education and funeral expenses, and exclude luxuries or costly articles. For example, a minor who bought a ₹70,000 laptop on credit for her online classes, with assets of only ₹20,000, could be made to pay only up to ₹20,000 out of her assets.
Where the 6 marks sit
| # | Component | Marks |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Section 68: reimbursement from property, not personal liability | 2 |
| 2 | Conditions and limit of liability | 2 |
| 3 | Meaning of necessaries, with example | 2 |
| Total | 6 |
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