Contract Act, Svt. 1977 (1920 A.D.)
No: 9 Dated: Apr, 01 1978
THE CONTRACT ACT, 1977 (1920 A. D.)
Act No. IX of 1977
Preamble.—Whereas it is expedient to define and amend certain parts of the law relating to contracts;
It is hereby enacted as follows:
1. Short title, extent and commencement—(1) This Act may be called the Contract Act, Svt. 1977.
(2) It extends to the whole of Jammu and Kashmir State. It shall come into force on the 1st day of Baisakh, 1978.
Preliminary
1-A. Enactment repealed—Nothing herein contained shall affect the provisions of any Act not hereby expressly repealed, nor any usage or custom of trade, nor any incident of any contract, not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act.
2. Interpretation clause—In this Act the following words and expressions are used in the following senses, unless a contrary intention appears from the context:
(a) When one person signifies to another his willingness to do or to abstain from doing anything, with a view to obtaining the assent of that other to such act or abstinence, he is said to make a proposal.
(b) When the person to whom the proposal is made signifies his assent thereto, the proposal is said to be accepted. A proposal, when accepted, becomes a promise.
(c) The person making the proposal is called the "promiser" and the person accepting the proposal is called the "promisee".
(d) When, at the desire of the promiser, the promisee or any other person has done or abstained from doing, or does or abstains from doing, or promises to do or to abstain from doing, something, such act or abstinence or promise is called a consideration for the promise.
(e) Every promise and every set of promises, forming the consideration for each other, is an agreement.
(f) Promises which form the consideration or part of the consideration for each other are called reciprocal promises.
(g) An agreement not enforceable by law is said to be void.
(h) An agreement enforceable by law is a contract.
(i) An agreement which is enforceable by law at the option of one or more of the parties thereto, but not at the option of the other or others, is a voidable contract.
(j) A contract which ceases to be enforceable by law becomes void when it cease to be enforceable.
CHAPTER I
The Communication, Acceptance and Revocation of Proposals
3. Communication, acceptance and revocation of proposals—The communication of proposals, the acceptance of proposals, and the revocation of proposals and acceptances, respectively, are deemed to be made by any act or omission of the party proposing, accepting or revoking by which he intends to communicate such proposal, acceptance or revocation, or which has the effect of communicating it.