Question 1 (b)
Promise made on majority to repay a loan taken during minority
6 marks
- Time to write
- About 12 minutes
- Topic
- Capacity: minors
- Notes
- Crux notes
Question
Question 1 (b) · 6 marksA minor borrows 45000 at 9% interest. After attaining majority, he promises afresh to repay the loan he took while a minor. Is this promise enforceable by the lender.
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
- Is this promise…?A case problem: state the rule and its section, apply it to these facts, then answer in one line (yes or no, and why).
Write it in this order
A step that gives the answer away stays hidden: tap it to see it.
- Read the facts; underline who did what, and the exact question 1 min
- 1 Minor's agreement void; no ratification 3 marks 5 min
- 2 No valid consideration for the fresh promise; conclusion 3 marks 5 min
- Check: section named, answer stated in one line 1 min
Short on time? Trim steps 1 and 2 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.
- A minor's agreement is void ab initio, and a minor cannot ratify, on attaining majority, an agreement made during minority; a fresh promise given on majority in place of one made as a minor is void for want of consideration.
- Consideration may be past, but only where it moved at the previous request of the promisor, and it must be something the law recognises; the general rule remains "no consideration, no contract".
Application. The loan of 45000 at 9% was taken during minority, so the loan agreement was void from the start. The fresh promise made after attaining majority is an attempt to ratify that void agreement, and its only consideration is the money advanced to the minor under the void agreement, which is no consideration in law.
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.
Conclusion. The lender cannot enforce the fresh promise; it is void for want of consideration.
Where the 6 marks sit
| # | Component | Marks |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Minor's agreement void; no ratification | 3 |
| 2 | No valid consideration for the fresh promise; conclusion | 3 |
| Total | 6 |
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