Question 2 (a)
True or false: illegal and void agreements; quasi contracts; fraud and misrepresentation
12 marks
- Time to write
- About 24 minutes
- Notes
- Crux notes
Question
Question 2 (a) · 12 marksState, giving reasons, whether each of the following statements is true or false:
All illegal agreements are void, but not all void agreements are necessarily illegal.
The principle of unjust enrichment is the basis of quasi contracts.
Fraud and misrepresentation mean the same thing.
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
- true or…A verdict for each (True or False), then the reason that decides it.
Write it in this order
The parts stand alone: start with the one you are surest of.
A step that gives the answer away stays hidden: tap it to see it.
- Read each statement; find the word that decides it 2 min
- 1 (i) Illegal and void agreements 4 marks 7 min
- 2 (ii) Quasi contracts and unjust enrichment 4 marks 7 min
- 3 (iii) Fraud and misrepresentation 4 marks 6 min
- Check: a verdict and a reason for every statement 2 min
Short on time? A few lines on every part beat a full answer to one: each part is capped at its own marks.
Try it first. About 24 minutes for 12 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.
(i)True Consider two agreements. A promise to pay a contractor to dump waste in a river is forbidden by law: it is illegal, so it cannot be enforced, and the parties may also be punished. Two friends who bet ₹500 on a cricket match, each promising to pay the other if his side loses, make a wager: the law will not enforce it, so it is void, yet nothing in it is forbidden and no one is punished. Illegality always brings unenforceability, because an agreement whose object or consideration is unlawful is void; but an agreement can be void for many other reasons (uncertainty, a wager, restraint of trade) without being unlawful. So every illegal agreement is void, while a void agreement need not be illegal.
(ii)True The Contract Act, in ss. 68 to 72, makes some people pay or give back although they never promised anything: the obligation is put on them by the Act itself. What links these cases is that, without the obligation, one person would be left better off at another's expense with no just reason, which is the principle of unjust enrichment. A shop that is paid the same bill twice by mistake must return the second payment (s. 72); an office that uses goods delivered to it by mistake must pay for them (s. 70). The duty arises from the law, not from a promise.
(iii)False Both mislead the other party into contracting, usually by a false statement (fraud also covers deliberately hiding the truth), and both make the contract voidable at his option; they differ on three points:
- damages: a party deceived by fraud can set the contract aside and claim damages as well; a party misled by an innocent misrepresentation can set it aside but cannot claim damages;
- the means-of-discovery defence: the reply that the other party could have found out the truth is open against a claim of misrepresentation (and of fraud by mere silence), but not to someone who actively lied;
- intention: fraud is deliberate, the maker knowing the statement to be untrue or not believing it; misrepresentation is made in the honest belief that it is true.
Where the 12 marks sit
| # | Component | Marks |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | (i) Illegal and void agreements | 4 |
| 2 | (ii) Quasi contracts and unjust enrichment | 4 |
| 3 | (iii) Fraud and misrepresentation | 4 |
| Total | 12 |
Report a problemopens an email to admin@getkunji.com with the question ID1504-Q2aalready filled in.