Question 2 OR (a)
Supervening impossibility and the cases it covers
6 marks
- Time to write
- About 12 minutes
- Notes
- Crux notes
Question
Question 2 OR (a) · 6 marksWhat is supervening impossibility? Discuss the cases that fall within supervening impossibility.
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
- What…?Discuss…Two asks in one question: answer both.
Write it in this order
- Read; underline the asks; jot your points 1 min
- 1 Meaning of supervening impossibility (s. 56) 2 marks 2 min
- 2 Effect 1 mark 2 min
- 3 Cases covered, with examples 3 marks 6 min
- Check: every ask answered, key terms underlined 1 min
Easy marks
- Meaning of supervening impossibility (s. 56) (step 1, 2 marks): a clear definition and a line on what it covers. It opens the answer, so it takes a minute or two.
Short on time? Step 3 carries 3 of the 6 marks: guard its minutes.
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.
Meaning. Impossibility of performance is either initial (existing when the agreement is made) or subsequent. Supervening (subsequent or post-contractual) impossibility arises when the contract was possible to perform when made, but an unexpected event or a change of circumstances beyond the parties' contemplation later makes performance impossible or unlawful. Section 56 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872 governs it.
1Meera and Arjun book Sharma ji's hall for their wedding—the agreement is signed.
Possible to performThe contract was possible to perform when made.
2Days before the function, a fire guts the hall. Nobody is at fault.
Unexpected eventAn unexpected event or a change of circumstances beyond the parties' contemplation later makes performance impossible or unlawful.
3They tear up the agreement together: neither side owes the other anything now.
Section 56The contract becomes void, and the parties are discharged from further performance.
Effect. The contract becomes void, and the parties are discharged from further performance.
Cases covered. Supervening impossibility may arise from:
- an unforeseen change in law, making performance unlawful;
- destruction of the subject matter essential to performance (X agrees to sell his horse to Y, but the horse dies in an accident);
- non-existence or non-occurrence of a particular state of things the parties contemplated, including personal incapacity such as a dangerous malady (A contracts to act at a theatre for six months but is too ill to act on several occasions; the contract to act on those occasions becomes void);
- death or incapacity in contracts of a personal nature (A and B contract to marry each other and, before the time fixed, A goes mad); and
- declaration of war, making performance impossible or unlawful.
Where the 6 marks sit
| # | Component | Marks |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Meaning of supervening impossibility (s. 56) | 2 |
| 2 | Effect | 1 |
| 3 | Cases covered, with examples | 3 |
| Total | 6 |
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