Question 1 (a)
Relations resembling those created by a contract (quasi contracts), with examples
10 marks
- Time to write
- About 20 minutes
From an older CBCS paper
Question
Question 1 (a) · 10 marks“There are certain relations resembling those created by a contract”, under the Indian contract act. Explain with examples.
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
- ExplainTie the answer to the quoted statement: say what it means first, and come back to it at the end.
- with examplesExamples are asked for: one short example with each point.
What the paper leaves open
The only copy of this paper found is cut off at the right edge of the page; the few words lost there are read from the sense and from the Hindi version of the question. The mark for this part is not legible on the copy; it is reckoned here at 10 marks, the paper's own split for its other questions.
Write it in this order
- Read; underline the asks; jot your points 1 min
- 1 Meaning of quasi contracts 2 marks 2 min
- 2 The five relations with examples 8 marks 16 min
- Check: every ask answered, key terms underlined 1 min
Easy marks
- Meaning of quasi contracts (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? Cut step 2 short rather than leave anything out.
Try it first. About 20 minutes for 10 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.
Quasi contracts. In some situations the law places on a person the kind of obligation a contract would create, although no contract was ever made. The idea behind them is that nobody should be allowed to gain unfairly at another's cost. Such obligations come from the law, not from agreement; they rest on a duty rather than a promise; and they give a right, usually to money, against a particular person.
The relations (Indian Contract Act, 1872, Chapter V):
- Necessaries supplied to a person incapable of contracting (s. 68): someone who supplies necessaries, suited to his station in life, to a person who cannot contract (or to someone that person must support) is entitled to be repaid out of that person's property. Example: a grocer who supplies ordinary monthly provisions to a minor living on his own is repaid from the minor's property, though the minor himself cannot be sued on a promise.
- Payment by an interested person (s. 69): a person who has an interest in a payment that someone else is legally bound to make, and who makes it himself, is entitled to be reimbursed. Example: a tenant whose landlord has not paid the municipal property tax pays it to stop the house being attached, and recovers the sum from the landlord.
- Benefit of a non-gratuitous act (s. 70): this obligation arises where three things come together: a person lawfully does something for another or delivers something to him; he does not mean to do it free of charge; and the other enjoys the benefit. The other must then pay for it or give it back. Example: a courier delivers a carton of printer paper to the wrong office, and that office uses the paper; it must pay for it.
- Finder of goods (s. 71): a person who finds goods belonging to someone else and takes them into his custody is responsible for them as a bailee would be. Example: a student who picks up a classmate's phone in the library must take reasonable care of it and return it to the owner.
- Money paid or thing delivered by mistake or under coercion (s. 72) must be repaid or returned. Example: a customer who pays an electricity bill twice by mistake can recover the second payment from the supplier.
Where the 10 marks sit
| # | Component | Marks |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Meaning of quasi contracts | 2 |
| 2 | The five relations with examples | 8 |
| Total | 10 |
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