Harsh Bhardwaj, LLM (Corporate and Commercial Law), Christ (Deemed to be University), Bangalore, Karnataka
ABSTRACT
This research seeks to appraise the concept and comparison of the principal of Good Faith under the Indian Contract law as well as English Contract Law. For the purpose of this research, it is necessary to understand the meaning, importance and present scenario and position of good faith in terms of contract law in both the nations and also the International Presence. It is to be noted that both the English legal system and Indian Law has roots based as common law legal system. Presently India Functions on Hybrid featured laws which includes common law but as well as few elements of Civil law and religious laws, so the nature of the legal system in India is not completely termed as Common law or Civil legal system it is mixture of both. It is to be noted that part of the Indian legal System is designed upon English Law only, but there a lot of differences. The principle of good faith is of importance in both the nations and this principle originated its roots from Rome Legal system where it was considered as of utter importance in order to enter into any commercial deals or agreement, good faith in terms of contract simply means that entering into a contract with another party with honesty and fair dealing. It is pertinent to mention here that United Kingdom does not recognize good faith in its contract law, rather it is considered as general term of agreements, on the other hand India considers good faith principle of utter importance and is an essential element to enter into contract with the other party, the “Indian Contract Act 1872”, imposes Implied / Indirect requirements on parties to agreement to comply with doctrine of good faith while entering into any agreement. As the scenario in UK is a bit different because courts do not commit themselves to this good faith doctrine but there are different solutions in order to achieve that result. Other countries like USA, Canada, Netherlands, and many parts of the EU have included the principle of good faith as an Obligatory duty in their jurisdictions in order to enter into contract. It is further stated that in this article, doctrine of good faith in India and scope of good faith in UK shall be stated and compared in depth with the help of recent case laws.
Keywords: Commercial Contracts/Agreements, Good Faith, English Law, Indian Contract Act, 1872 and Judiciary.
