Question 1 (b)
Acceptance by post where e-mail was prescribed
5 marks
- Time to write
- About 10 minutes
From an older CBCS paper
Question
Question 1 (b) · 5 marksA offers to sell B his ‘HIG Flat’ for Rs. 3 crores, directing him to send his acceptance by e-mail only. B posts a letter of acceptance. Is there a valid contract between the parties? If A does not, within a reasonable time, reject the acceptance made by e-mail, what would your answer be?
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 there a…?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
- Read the facts; underline who did what, and the exact question 1 min
- 1 Section 7(2) 2 marks 2 min
- 2 Application to both situations 3 marks 6 min
- Check: section named, answer stated in one line 1 min
Easy marks
- Section 7(2) (step 1, 2 marks): state the rule and its section exactly. It earns its marks before you apply it to the facts.
Short on time? Cut step 2 short rather than leave anything out.
Try it first. About 10 minutes for 5 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.
Provision. Where the proposal lays down how it is to be accepted and the acceptance does not follow that manner, the proposer may, within a reasonable time after learning of the acceptance, insist that the proposal be accepted only in the prescribed manner; if he does not, he is taken to have accepted the acceptance (s. 7(2)). Departing from the prescribed mode therefore does not of itself defeat the acceptance; it gives the proposer a choice, to be made within a reasonable time.
Reading of the question. The second sentence speaks of "the acceptance made by e-mail", although B is said to have posted his acceptance. It is read as referring to B's posted acceptance, the only one that departs from A's terms. (Read literally, an acceptance by e-mail would follow the prescribed mode, so the reasonable-time rule would not arise: the contract would be made on that acceptance.)
Application. A prescribed acceptance by e-mail only; B sent a letter of acceptance by post. There is no valid contract yet if A, within a reasonable time, insists on acceptance by e-mail. If A does not reject the posted acceptance within a reasonable time, he is presumed to have accepted it, and a valid contract for the sale of the HIG Flat for Rs. 3 crores arises.
Conclusion. The answer turns on A's response: if he insists in time on the prescribed mode, no contract; if he stays silent beyond a reasonable time, the contract is valid.
Where the 5 marks sit
| # | Component | Marks |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Section 7(2) | 2 |
| 2 | Application to both situations | 3 |
| Total | 5 |
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