Komal Singh, B.A. LL.B., Vivekananda Institute of Professional Studies – Technical Campus (VIPS)
Pranshi Singhal, B.B.A. LL.B., Vivekananda Institute of Professional Studies – Technical Campus (VIPS)
ABSTRACT
The paper explores the implication of threat to commit suicide under §15 of Indian Contract Act, which examines on taking the consent of party to the agreement by way committing or threatening to commit any act forbidden by Indian Penal Code, thereby amounting to Coercion and thus vitiates the free consent of the party.
It begins by defining the term contract under §2(h)of the act and its essentials as defined by §10 of Indian Contract Act. Then the paper gives a brief about what is consent and free consent under Indian Contract Act. It further explores whether threat to commit suicide is an act forbidden and punishable under IPC. Thereby leads to the journey of recognizing how threat to commit suicide amounts to coercion and defeating the validity of a contract. The paper also discussed the effect of such threat to commit suicide on the contract, which makes the contract voidable.
The underlying problem within §15 of the act, that it expressly do not includes the cases of threat, is been explained, arguing that threat to commit suicide (successful in nature) is different from attempt to suicide (unsuccessful in nature) as given under §309 of IPC, therefore to overcome the different views related to this, the paper recommends amending §15 of Indian Contract Act in such a way that cases related to threat are also covered within it and all kind of uncertainty can be removed.
Keywords - Coercion, §15, Threat to commit suicide, Forbidden act, Free Consent, Validity of Contract, Voidable contract, Indian contract act, §309 of Indian Penal Code.
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