Essentials of a Valid Contract Essay

To be enforceable by law an agreement must possess the essential elements of a valid contract as laid down by Sec. 10 of Contract Act in the following terms; ‘All agreements are contracts if they are made by the free consent of parties competent to contract, for a lawful consideration and with a lawful object, and are not hereby expressly declared to be void. ’ Following are the conditions for validity of the contract in detail. 1. Offer and Acceptance: There must be an agreement based on a lawful offer made by one party and a lawful acceptance of that offer from the other party. The adjective lawful implies that the offer and acceptance must satisfy the requirements of the Contract Act in relation thereto. 2. Legal Relationship: The parties must have intended their agreement to have legal consequences and legal obligations. Agreements of a social or domestic nature do not contemplate legal relations, and as such they do not give rise to a contract. 3. Lawful Consideration: Consideration means something in return (quid pro quo). For a valid contract both parties must have provided consideration, i. e. each side must promise to give or do something for other. However, it must be legal, real, harmless and not immoral. 4. Competent Parties: The parties to an agreement must be competent to contract. The contracting parties must be of the age of majority and of sound mind and must not be disqualified by any law to which they are subject. (Section 11) 5. Free Consent: Free consent of all parties is another essential element. Consent means that the parties must have agreed upon same things in the same sense. Consent is said to be free if it is not obtained by coercion, undue influence, fraud, misrepresentation or mistake. (Section 14) 6. Lawful Object: Object means ‘the purpose of entering into a contract’. For the formation of a valid contract it is also necessary that the parties to an agreement must agree for a lawful object. According to Sec. 23 the object of an agreement is lawful, if it is Not forbidden by law; Not fraudulent; or Not involves or implies injury to the person or property of another Not regarded immoral by the Court Not opposed to public policy. Not immoral. 7. Not Expressly Declared Void: The agreement must not have been expressly declared to be void under the Act. Sec. 24-30 and Sec56 specifies certain types of expressly declared void agreements: Agreement in restrain of marriage, trade, or legal proceedings. (sec. 26,27,27) Agreement by way of wager. (sec. 30) Agreement to do impossible acts. (sec. 56) Agreement the meaning of which is not certain. (sec. 29) 8. Writing and Registration: The prescribed legal formalities of writing, registration, etc. necessary for the agreement to be enforceable by law must have been observed. It must be in writing, properly attested by witnesses and registered if so required by law. The absence of any of the essentials explained above will not result in a valid contract but a void contract.