Indian Contract act, 1872

The Indian Contract Act extends to the whole of India and it came into force on the first day of September 1872.

What Is A Contract?

An agreement enforceable by law is a contract.
Thus for the formation of a contract there must be

1. An agreement
2. The agreement should be enforceable by law. An agreement is defined as every promise and every set of promises forming the consideration for each other and a promise is an accepted proposal.

Formation Of A Contract

For the formation of a contract the process of proposal or offer by one party and the acceptance thereof by the other is necessary. This generally involves the process of negotiation where the parties apply their minds make offer and acceptance and create a contract.

When one person signifies to another his willingness to do or abstain from doing anything with a view to obtaining the assent of the other to such act or abstinence, he is said to make a proposal.

When the person to whom the proposal is made signifies his assent thereto, the proposal is said to be accepted.

In order to convert a proposal into a promise, the acceptance must be

1. Absolute and unqualified - Any departure from the terms of the offer or any qualification vitiates the acceptance unless it is agreed to by the person from whom the offer comes. An acceptance with a variation is no acceptance; it is simply a counter proposal.
2. Expressed in some usual and reasonable manner. - If the proposer prescribes any particular manner of acceptance it has to be in that manner and where no manner is prescribed it should be in a usual and reasonable manner.