Common-Law Admission Test is not just an examination but its a gateway to 22 National Law Schools. If you are on this page u must be aware of the importance of this examination.

CLAT is a national level examination that means one will have to race against the aspirants all over the country desperate to find a way to enter in NLUs. More than 50 thousand students will try their luck in CLAT 2020 But the competition level of this examination can be made easier by following a perfect plan of action and strategies. In this article I will tell you about some of the tips & strategies that can make you crack this exam easily.

Take Your First Step

Know exactly where you stand and what do you need to get through”Am I ready?” Once you are mentally and physically prepared, you need to know basic things about the examination like eligibility criteria, exam pattern is competing and important dates of examination.

Plan your Strategy Professionally and Meticulously

Analyze your shortcomings and strengths to plan your strategy. Accumulate your strategy and utilize them efficiently for best results. It requires strategic pl hard work, careful guidance and loads of practice.

Plan your Preparation Well

Make a proper schedule for your preparations and divide it well enough into small milestones. Try to do as many precise things as you can and star concentration. Have a time scheduled for each subject. Divide the preparation instead of random preparation. This process is called as helps us focus on all the topics and subjects.

Keep a Break on Your Anxiety

Most of the aspirants’ dreams are washed away by their anxiety. Replace your anxiety with curiosity and channelise your excitement in a positive direction. If possible meditate whenever you get anxiety attacks. This will help you eradicate the mind and you’ll be able to focus much clearly.

Face Your Fears

The biggest obstacle between you and your success is FEAR. According to most of the successful people who have common law admission test, the best way to tackle your fear is to face your fears. Keep practising the topics that scare you till you become master of those topics. The first step this endeavour is the toughest though the rest can be covered easily!

Always Go for the Basic

Students must clear their basic first rather than anything else because most of the twisted questions can only be solved with the help of basic concepts. To strengthen your basic concept go for coaching notes of subjects provided to you nothing else can give you a sound knowledge of basics in case you have not done coaching try to clear your concept through books that contain exact information about the law.

Syllabus Check

A lot of students study everything even if it is not in entrance examinations’ syllabus. Keep the syllabus of examination on the study table. Check it before you begin and after you end your studies to know how much you need to cover this day.

Do a Systematic Study

After having managed your time for each subject, it is important to read the topic subject wise. Instead of reading here and there, a systematic fashion will help you to understand complex topics easily. If we understand the fundamental concepts first, it becomes easy to understand further advanced concepts.

Memorise the celebrity cases

Mnemonics (tricks to memorize easily), can be highly useful to remember long essays, derivations, formulas and other fact-based concepts. A lot of books are available in the market, which teaches mnemonics. This reduces the time for preparation and increases the memory power try creating mnemonics for the provisions of the law dealt in that particular case so that u can save your time in the examination if any direct question is there.

Avoid Skipping Topics

It’s very important that the students must study each and every topic and understand the syllabus well. Never try to think that this might not get a place in the question paper, always remember CLAT or AILET exams can ask any topic from the syllabus that they have prescribed.

Have Group Discussions

Group discussions are a boon in the preparation for law entrance exams. This works very easily, each one from a group knows something and has a unique skill set. While participating in group discussions, everyone shares the knowledge he knows. This small share, in turn, helps all the participants to understand all the topics, which were discussed in group discussion and the chances of making mistake also decreases after this in the final war.

Test and motivate yourself

It’s important to test your understanding and skills from time to time. This makes sure that you are at the right path and figures out your weak points. You can take mock test papers from online portals. In this website like Lexpeeps.in will prove you of great benefit. Once you get a good score in these tests, award yourself. This may be anything as per your wish like going to a movie, playing half an hour video game or reading your favourite comics. This not only recharges your mind but also motivates you to do better next time, but remember not to lose the flow u already have.

Practice the max

Our concept here is the practice as much as possible. Let me quote you an example if you want to learn swimming you need to practice that in water rather than reading on how to do the swimming. Taking the lesson from here it is important that how much you have practiced1. Don’t Just Shoot Well-begun is half done, so start professionally, with a cool head. Read the question properly and try to understand it. If you have understood the intricacy of the questions, then half of the job is done. The paper which starts well ends well too. Never try such questions in which you are not sure of the right choice because there is negative marking in the examination.

Increase speed and accuracy

Practice, practice and practise is what you need. There are no shortcuts to success. All you have to do is practice. Study but an objective approach to the subject is mandatory nowadays. Have a clock on your table and try to solve the sample paper in the given time. Learn to coordinate with the clock. If you are serious about entrance examination, act like you are. Raise hand Always ask your doubts to your teachers and other senior persons, never be feel ashamed in asking the doubts. If you carry on your studies with doubts in your mind then you are surely going to have a lot of stress in your mind which will finally start to deviate your mind from the study. So, don’t keep any doubt in your mind, if you have any then clear the same immediately.

Fill the empty spaces

Try to fill the empty spaces i.e. read, recite, and memorize the concepts/formulas while eating, waiting and travelling etc. Breathing exercises should be included in this regime in order to relieve the stress and be ready for intellectual challenges. Food is also a very important aspect that needs to be taken care of when preparing for entrance examinations. Stay away from fried, fatty and high sugar foods and eat more fresh fruits and vegetables. Drink water or energy drinks as much as you can.

Never lose your heart: If you find the question paper is not up to your expectations, do not just give away. Put all your acumen and energy to get the best out of it.

CLAT-Peeps! An initiative by Lexpeeps.in

This article is written by Madhur Rathaur, Founding Director of Lexpeeps.in. He has talked about the core areas to focus and revealed some untalked things that are not usually revealed by the successful candidates.

WRITE TO US FOR ANY QUERY, ADMISSION COUNSELLING OR MENTORSHIP.

This article is written by Hitesh Vachhani, 4th year Law Student at GLS Law College Ahmedabad. This article focuses on the advancement of technology that has raised a question regarding the online contracts and how the Judiciary and the Legislature has responded to the same.

INTRODUCTION

The advancement of technology has changed the lifestyle of the people. Technology has no geographical limitations and thus there’s quick and wide dissemination of information than before. It has also changed the manner which the businesses are conducted. Internet is being used for electronic commerce, social networking, dispute resolution, sending emails and writing blogs. Today, electronic commerce is the most significant features of the Internet.

Electronic commerce includes all the type of activities by a person or a firm such as buying and selling of products and services like using computers or any electronic platform via the use of internet. And online contracts form a part of electronic commerce. Thus conducting business over the internet demands agreement between the parties. Online Contracts or Cyber Contracts or E-Contracts or Digital Contracts is a shift from the traditional mode of face to face contract and the parties can contract without meeting each other.

Traditionally, in a contract, one of the parties to the contract makes an offer and the other accepts the offer and thus there is a meeting of two minds and the contract is said to have been entered into between the parties. In online contracts, the parties can agree to the terms of the contract via the internet i.e., via exchange of emails or other possible suited mediums. But in both, traditionally or in online contracts, the essential requirements of the contracts have to be fulfilled for the contract to be valid and made enforceable in the courts of law.

ESSENTIAL REQUIREMENTS FOR ONLINE CONTRACTS

The following requirements have to be fulfilled for the contracts to be held valid under the Indian Contract Act, 1872:

Offer
Acceptance
Intention to create legal relationship
Lawful Object
Lawful Consideration
Parties must be capable to enter into contracts
Free Consent
Possibility of Performance

DEVELOPMENT OF THE CONCEPT OF ONLINE CONTRACTS

The Indian Contract Act, 1872 which is a colonial-era law defines a contract as an agreement enforceable by law. Traditionally the Indian Contract Act would only apply to the agreements entered into between the parties face to face. But as early as in 1996, the Hon’ble Supreme Court in Bhagwandas Goverdhandas Khedia v. Girdharilal Parshottamdas & Co.¹ was posed with a question that whether the contract entered into between the parties orally over a telephonic conversation was a valid contract capable of being enforced in a court of law. The SC by a majority of 2:1 (the majority being J. Shah and J. Wanchoo) held that the draftsmen of the Indian Contract Act, 1872 could not have envisaged the use of the telephone because it was not invented and therefore the words of the provision should be confined to communication by post. Thus, the contract was not a valid contract and could not be enforced. But the minority opinion of Hidayatullah J. is what opened the doors for online contracts.

According to J. Hidayatullah, the law should have been interpreted in the present-day context. He observed:
“The law under consideration was framed at a time when telephone, wireless, Telstar, Early bird were not contemplated. If the time has marched and the inventions have made it easy to communicate instantaneously over long distance and language of our law does not fit the new condition it can be modified to reject the old principles”.

It is true that the draftsman of the contract law could not have contemplated scientific inventions. Further, it is also important that the provisions of the law are interpreted in a progressive manner. The statues must be construed to continuously update the wordings in accordance with the changes in the social condition, science and technology.

LAWS THAT GOVERN THE ONLINE CONTRACTS

There are various laws that govern the online contracts such as the Indian Contract Act, 1872, the Indian Evidence Act, 1872, the Information Technology Act, 2000 and the Indian Stamps Act, 1899.

It is important to note that the requirements of the online contracts are similar to that of physical contracts under the Indian Contract Act, 1872 i.e., there should be a lawful object, lawful consideration, the parties must be competent enough to contract, there must be free consent and there must be an intention to create a legal relationship. Thus, even for the online contracts the provisions of the Indian Contract Act, 1872 have to fulfilled for it to be made enforceable in the courts of law.

However, the doubts as to the evidentiary value of the online contracts may arise. To settle the doubts raised qua the evidentiary value of the online contracts there are certain provisions in the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 which govern the same. They are as follows:

Section 85 A: This section presumes the existence of the electronic agreement after the agreement is concluded by affixing the electronic signature of the parties.
Section 85 B: This section allows the court to presume that the record in question is not put to any kind alteration. It also allows the court to presume that the electronic signature has been affixed with the intention of signing and approving the electronic record. This section also provides that the section should not be misread so as to create any presumption relating to the integrity or authenticity of the electronic record or digital signature in question.
Section 88 A: This section allows the court to presume the existence of the electronic messages and also specifies that the court shall not make any presumptions as to the person by whom that message was sent. The Court may presume that an electronic message, forwarded by the originator through an electronic mail server to the addressee to whom the message purports to be addressed corresponds with the message as fed into his computer for transmission.
Section 90 A: According to this section where the electronic documents are proved to be five years old are and are produced from the proper custody, the court may presume that the electronic signature so affixed on the document was affixed by him or any other person authorized by him so as to validate the existence of the contract.
Section 65 B: According to this section any information contained in an electronic record which is printed on a paper or stored/recorded/copied on optical/magnetic media produced by a computer shall be deemed to be a document and is admissible as evidence in any proceeding without further proof of the original, provided certain conditions mentioned in sub-section 2 of section 65 B are fulfilled.

The Information Technology Act, 2000 recognizes the basic features of the contract such as communication, acceptance and revocations which may be expressed in electronic form or by means of an electronic record. Signature of the parties to the contract is essential but is not required under the Indian Contract Act as it recognizes the existence of the oral contracts as well. The principal function of signing a document is to confirm the identity of the contracting parties and to give consents to the contractual terms and to refuse repudiation, i.e. when a person appends his signature, he cannot subsequently refuse that he was not a contracting party. Therefore, the IT Act makes provision to authenticate the electronic records. Section 3 of the Information Technology Act, 2000 provides that any subscriber can authenticate the electronic record by affixing the electronic signature. Section 3 A of the Information Technology Act, 2000 defines electronic signatures and makes this electronic authentication technique reliable.

In particular, the IT Act 2000 excludes the following documents from electronic transactions:

Negotiable Instruments
Power of Attorney
Trust Deed
Will
Sale Deed or Conveyance deed with respect to the immovable property of any documents relating to any interest in an immovable property.

Section 10A of the Information Technology Act, 2000 hints at the validity of e-mail contracts. It reads as follows: “Where in a contract formation, the communication of proposals, the acceptance of proposals, the revocation of proposals and acceptances, as the case may be, are expressed in electronic form or by means of an electronic record, such contract shall not be deemed to be unenforceable solely on the ground that such electronic form or means was used for that purpose.”

In the present era the formation of contracts via emails are increasing and to ensure that the online contracts are not faced to with any legal implications this provision was inserted into the Information Technology Act, 2000.

JUDICIAL RECOGNITION OF ONLINE CONTRACTS

In Trimex International Fze Limited v. Vendata Aluminium Limited², The petitioner had applied to the Hon’ble Supreme Court under section 11(6) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 for the constitution of the arbitral tribunal. The respondents objected to the same on the grounds that there was no contract between the parties and therefore there could not be any arbitration agreement between the parties. It was the contention of the respondent that the acceptance over the e-mails could not give rise to the contract and there was always an intention that a formal contract would be signed in future.

In Rickmers Verwaltung GNBH v. Indian Oil Corporation Limited³, The Supreme Court clearly contemplated that possibility of exchange of correspondence between the parties would amount to contract between parties. Thus relying on the above decision of the three-judge bench the court held that “Unconditional acceptance of contract concluded orally or in writing [or by e-mail].. mere absence of a signed formal contract, would not affect either unconditional acceptance of contract or implementation thereof.” Thus, the e-mails which convey the clear intention of the contracting parties can be treated as a binding contract.

In Ambalal Sarabhai Enterprise Limited v. KS Infraspace LLP Limited, The Hon’ble Supreme Court had decided the validity of agreements entered into by the parties using a combination of communications over WhatsApp and emails. The court stated that: “The e-mails and WhatsApp messages will have to be read and understood cumulatively to decipher whether there was a concluded contract or not. The use of the word ‘final draft’ in the e-mail… cannot be determinative (of offer or acceptance) by itself”. Therefore the courts have accepted and provided that the agreements can be executed electronically, so long as they meet the minimum requirements of the Contract Act and the IT Act.

The foreign courts have also given a more liberal construction. There are judgments which read that unless an inference can be drawn from the facts that the parties intended to be bound only when a formal agreement had been executed, the validity of the agreement would not be affected by its lack of formality.

CONCLUSION

The advancement of technology will bring more and more challenges and thus it is important that the laws are updated and upgraded from time to time to keep up with the evolving technology. The judiciary is still administering the online contracts and it still remains a developing subject as there are not many judicial decisions on this point.

However, the fact, that many Indian courts recognize the extensive inclination to e-commerce and reliance on the internet cannot be denied. The prevailing legal judicial and legislative intent appears to be that any legally valid acts would maintain their validity even if performed online or electronically provided that such contract satisfies all the essentials of a valid contract.

REFERENCES

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This article has been written by Yash Dodani, a first-year student at NALSAR University of Law. He has tried to explain the similarities and differences between Law, Justice and Morality.

The three terms, viz, law, justice and morality are used interchangeably in terms of a common man. However, in legal terms, these terms are used differently. Although they have a similarity but they have differences too. We will try to understand the similarity and the differences. But let us first try to understand the meaning of all these terms separately to get more clarity in the parts where I will try to locate the similarity and the differences.

Law

What is Law?

Now when everyone will try to find the definition of the term Law, we will face a lot of problem to find a concrete definition. Law is that vast area where the definition is next to impossible to be accepted by the universe as a single definition. Law can be anything from the written statutes to the unwritten rules that govern the behaviour of the society from the ancient times. However, the Jurists have tried to find a working definition of the Law by taking something as a base. And that thing can be ‘nature’, ‘source’, ‘effects’ etc.

The society plays a major role in shaping of the law. Laws can’t be made against the will of the society. If any law is made against the society, the society will resist the law and will try to disobey it. The laws are made by the society, and the law govern the society in the sense that the law tells the society what they should do and should not do as a part of society. The society also acts as a part of the law, mostly in the unwritten manner. There are various things which we should do according to the rules of society, and if we don’t do so, the society will look down to us. For example – respecting the elders is an unwritten rule, which is not told by any law but told to us by the society.

Law is a social science which runs by the society. The law of any state cannot be rigid. It is because of the social changes by the time. There can be one offence at a particular time or place, but after some time, may it be a no offence? If the law is so rigid that it can’t accommodate itself with the changing society, that law is bad. If the law is so changing, there can’t be any concrete definition of the law. Hence the law can’t be defined by a single definition. To define law the analysis of various legal concepts against various disciplines like sociology, political science, history, psychology, economics is needed to be done with the element of logic and practicality, to meet the ends of justice.

Justice

The justice is a very age-old concept in the society. It can be done through law or without the law. When I say without the law, it means that justice can be administered without a law. The justice can be administered under the general principles of giving justice which are independent of the law. Every person is expected to live peacefully. Without the justice an orderly society is unthinkable. These lines were said by Salmond. Justice come up with rights, duties and equity which then after takes the shape of laws.

The justice ensures that there is a uniformity in the interpretation of the law [if any] and in absence, do justice to the innocent party in whatever way feels suitable. it expects everyone to be Impartial and just to others as well.

Justice in the Modern society

The modern law concept of justice is called as ‘Justice according to Law’. It implies that justice can be given without law as well. As various prominent authors have called it as ‘Rule of Law’. It also means that no one is above law. Law is the supreme rule in the modern society.

Civil Justice

The civil justice system involves the protection of rights in the first place and not the punishment. Just to give some sort of compensation, the court orders to give some amount of damages to the innocent parties. This ensures that they will refrain from committing the same wrong again.

Criminal Justice

The main aim of the criminal justice is to punish the offender. The crime is so harsh that if the offender is just asked to compensate the innocent party, it will not ensure that people will not commit the crime again and again.

There are various types of theories of punishment which were/are used by the courts in administrating justice and to reduce the crime.
1.Deterrent Theory
2.Preventive Theory
3.Reformative theory
4.Retributive theory
These are the punishments which are used to punish the offender
(For details on theories, visit my article on Theories of Punishment)

Morality

In the ancient time, there was no distinction between Law Justice and morality. In Hindu law, there were Smritis and Vedas. The Greeks in the name of ‘natural rights’ formulated a theoretical moral foundation of law. The Romans recognized moral laws based on ‘natural law’. In middle age, churches came in power and Christian morals were considered as the basis of law.
The morals are nothing but established rules when the human life was made. It means that morals are the basic human rights. It also means that those abstract rights which are in the public interest.

The law derives its authorities from the supreme state and not the established morals. When the church was removed from the power, it was said that law and morals are different. Austin said in the 19th century that the law and morality are two different terms and the law has nothing to do with morality. But he being too positivist, forgot that there is a relation in the law and morals. But at the same time, they are not the same.

The Distinction between Law and Morals

Morals are not laws, but are an end in themselves. It is followed by the people because it helps in improving the character of an individual. After all, they are good to follow. There are acts which are morally correct but are wrong as per the law and vice versa. Morals are universal and are not affected by the state. Morals are more related to the individuals and not the group per se. Roscoe Pound said “ As to the application of moral principles and legal principles respectively, it is said that moral principles are of individual and relative application; they must be applied regarding circumstances and individuals, whereas legal rules are of general and absolute application”

S.No.	Law	Morals
1	Tries to make society an Ideal one, but is dynamic	Is an end in itself.
2	Related to the society and to make it ideal.	Related to regulate individuals.
3	The conduct is looked and punished.	They look into the motive to do act, that motive could be correct morally.
4	They are followed because the law is backed by sanctions.	They are followed just because it’s good for the individuals to follow.
5	State is responsible to enforce it.	Individuals are left upon to decide if they want to follow or not.

Relation between Law and Morals

There are indeed a lot of differences between the law and the morals, but it does not mean that there is no sort of similarity. They are very closely related to each other. The type of law will determine how important the morals are to that particular law.

Morals are used to make the laws.
Morals are used to test the positive laws.
Morals as the end of the law.

Starting point of law

The law and morals have the same origin but have different developments throughout the time. There were common things between law and morality. The sanctions which were charged due to breaking of the law or the morals were the same. But after some time, the state thought that some things should have more sanctions and confided things, and this came out to be ‘law’.

The ruled which were for the ‘good’ of humanity but the state could not ensure its observance were left as they were. These are called ‘moral’. Thus, it could be said that law and morals have a common origin, but diverge in their development. Many rules are common to both of them such as NOT killing a person, NOT stealing.

Queen v/s Dudley and Stephen’s Case: 14 Queens Bench Division 273 (1884)

This is a very leading case in the English Law. This case features the need/necessity to commit an act to save the life of shipments. The facts are very interesting and the reasoning of the court is equally good. The defendants, in this case, were travelling in a ship to reach a particular purpose. However, in the middle of the journey, there was a thunder broke out and they were stuck in the sea. They stuck in so long that they ate their whole food and there was nothing left for them after some time. It was so worse that they were trying to however live somehow. But after some time, there was nothing at all left. With them, there was a boy of about 17 years old. That boy was sick and the other members of the ship thought that he is young and sick and might die anytime. And then they killed him and ate his flash. When they reached the destination, the police arrested him and charged for murder. The defendants took the defence of necessity.

The court held that the person can’t take the life of another to save his own life and was considered as morals. But the court decreased the punishment from death to life imprisonment.

Mr X v/s Hospital Z (1998) 8 SCC 296

Another interesting case on the front of morals, where the court again brought the similarity between the morals and the law. The facts were that a person had HIV+ he was about to marry a girl. But the hospital authorities gave the information of him being HIV+ to the girl whom he was about to marry. The boy filed a case against the hospital authorities and claimed that they should not have revealed the information without the consent of the boy. The hospital authorities claimed that they have done this on the moral grounds and hence they should not be held liable.

The court here held that the hospital authorities were not liable because the right of Ms A to be informed about the safety of her life will override the right of Mr X’s to privacy. The court said that in the public interest, there cannot be upheld of individual rights as it will be against the morals and not always law should be considered. The following lines were said.

“As a human being, Ms. ‘Y’ must also enjoy, as she is entitled to, all the Human Rights available to any other human being. This is apart from, and, in addition to, the Fundamental Rights available to her under Article 21, which, as we have seen, guarantees “Right to Life” to every citizen of this country. This right would positively include the right to be told that a person, with whom she was proposed to be married, was the victim of a deadly disease, which was sexually communicable. Since “Right to Life” includes right to lead a healthy life to enjoy all faculties of the human body in their prime condition, the respondents, by their disclosure that the appellant was HIV (+), cannot be said to have, in any way, either violated the rule of confidentiality or the right of privacy. Moreover, where there is a clash of two Fundamental Rights, as in the instant case, namely, the appellant’s right to privacy as part of right to life and Ms. ‘Y’s right to lead a healthy life which is her Fundamental Right under Article 21, the RIGHT which would advance the public morality or public interest, would alone be enforced through the process of Court, for the reason that moral considerations cannot be kept at bay and the judges are not expected to sit as mute structures of clay, in the Hall, known as Court Room, but have to be sensitive, “in the sense that they must keep their fingers firmly upon the pulse of the accepted morality of the day”

Morals as a test of positive law

Morals can be used to check if the law is being more positive or not. If the law will not consider morals, it is very positive. But it is not that the positive laws will not be binding, laws are made to be binding on the people. In those laws where strict liability will be read, we can’t say that it will consider morals in determining the cases. Morals are used to test the extent to which laws are positive.

Conclusion

Hence the law justice and morals have a difference but at the same time are related to each other. Morals have often been considered the end of the law. Many jurists have defined law based on ‘Justice’. Thus, there is a relationship between law justice and morality. Most jurists say that the end of the law is to secure ‘justice. Justice has more or less been defined in the terms of ‘morals’. Thus, the law is used to give an idea of both morals and justice.

In modern terms, there is a lot of difference between the law and the morals, justice being the base of law.

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This post is written by Anushree Tadge, 3^rd year law student of ILS Law College, Pune, she tries to explain briefly what the concept of free consent is and why it is regarded as foundation stone of other Acts like Transfer of Property Act, Company Act, Family Laws etc.

Introduction to ‘Free Consent’

‘Consent’ as a word is heard very often by individuals around the globe, as the feeling of ‘individuality’ is given importance more and more, consent as a provision is also evolving. Derived from the Merriam Webster dictionary, ‘Consent’ is explained as ‘compliance in or approval of what is done or proposed by another.’
In simple words a voluntary agreement of one party to the proposal of others in order to reach or not reach the desired motive. Now even consents are of different types, these include implied, expressed, informed consent and unanimous consent. But, again for a person to provide consent, he/she should not be diagnosed with a mental disorder, age more than 18 years etc along with the major factor being the consent should be voluntary and not affected by any form of coercion. Fraud, undue influence.

‘Free Consent in the Indian Contract Act, 1872’

Section 13 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872 (hereinafter referred to as Act) defines the term ‘Consent’ as Two or more persons are said to consent when they agree upon the same thing in the same sense.
For example, suppose there are two parties in a contract, A and B. It was seen that there was some land and “A” put a proposal to sell. “B” after being made aware of this proposal, analysed that it was the perfect opportunity, agreed to it. In this case, both parties showed their consent.
The principle of consensus-ad-idem is to be followed in contractual agreements.

Section 14 of the Act states that Consent is said to be free if the following factors are satisfied:
If the consent is free from coercion.
If the contract is not done under any undue influence.
If a contract is performed without any fraud.
The contract should not complete with any misrepresentation.
The contract should not be agreed to by mistake.
If there is no consensus, moreover free consensus between parties is very vital for the contact to be binding and legitimate. In case there is no free consent, the voidability of the contract depends if the aggrieved party wishes to challenge the legality of the contract leading them to be ‘voidable’ in nature.

Coercion

According to Section 15, it is the committing or threatening to perform, any act that is forbidden by the Indian Penal Code, 1860; or (ii) the unlawful detainment or threatening to do the same of any property, to the prejudice of any particular person, with the intention of leading any individual to enter into an agreement.
In the famous case of Ranganayakamma Vs. Alwar Setti (1889), A Hindu Widow of 13 years, was coerced into adopting a boy under the threat of not allowing cremation of her husband’s death. Following which, the widow feared and adopted the boy. Later she even applied for cancellation of the adoption. It was held that the adoption was voidable at her option as her consent was not free it was rather obtained by coercion is an offence under Sec 297 of the Indian Penal Code.
Now for cases where coercion is obtained by threats like ‘filing a suit’, it will also fall under the same category, because it is explicitly stated as an offence by the Indian Penal Code. In another interesting case of Ammiraju v. Seshamma, the issue was put forth whether ‘threat to commit suicide’ was a punishable offence? The Court ruled otherwise and put forth that such kind of coercion was not punishable by the IPC,1860.

Undue Influence

The second factor which makes ‘consent’ of particular cases to be compromised is Undue Influence. Section 16 (i) of the Act, defines undue influence as to where if the relationship existing between the parties are of such nature that one of the parties is in a superior position or can dominate the will of the other easily and actually uses that position to obtain an unfair benefit over the other person or force him/her to act particularly in a contract is ‘Undue Influence’.
Section 16 (2) of the Act states that a person is deemed to be in a position to dominate the will of another where:
He holds a real or some apparent authority over the other person. For e.g. Master and Servant
There exists a fiduciary relationship based on trust and confidence for e.g. guardian and ward
Contract with a person experiencing mental distress/ disorder/ weak intelligence/ illiterates etc.
The burden of proof lies on the party at whose end the contract seems voidable, there has to be compulsory proving of the fact that there existed a relationship where one party could dominate another and the party actually used such position to obtain an unfair advantage.

Fraud

The third way by which consent is unfree can be explained is Fraud. The term ‘fraud’ is defined in Section 17 of the Act as follows:
“Fraud includes any of the acts committed by one of the parties in a contract or by anyone of his agents, with an intention to deceive the other party so as to lead him to enter into the contract:

i) the suggestion of a fact, that is not true,

ii) the active concealment i.e. hiding of a fact.

iii) making a promise without any actual intention of performing it;

iv) any other act in order to deceive; any act or omitting the law which especially shows it to be fraudulent.”

A very interesting point to note is that the Section 17 says “Mere silence as far as facts are concerned are likely to affect the willingness of an individual to enter into a contract is not really fraud”. Although this rule has an exception to circumstances where there is a duty to speak and if the ‘contract is made in good faith.’

Misrepresentation

A representation, when performed in a wrong manner, innocently or intentionally, is called ‘misrepresentation’.
Misrepresentation should be made innocently, absolutely believing it to be true and without any intention of deceiving the other party.
Misrepresentation should be pertinent to the facts of the case. A mere expression of one’s opinion is not stating of a fact. It should also be used in inducing the other party into entering the contract. Like all the other forms explained in this post, even misrepresentation is voidable at the part of the aggrieved party, he can challenge the contract to be null and void or ask for an honest performance of the same.
However, under few circumstances the aggrieved party loses the right to rescind the contract, these are-
If the truth could be discovered with ordinary diligence.
If the consent is not actually induced due to misrepresentation.
If the parties cannot be led back in such a way that they acquire their original positions.
Even, after coming to know about misrepresentation if the party acts in such a manner that it shows it’s an affirmation to the contract, the party, in such case will automatically lose the right to rescind.

Mistake

Mistake is an incorrect assumption turning into a belief concerning anything.
Mistakes are of two kinds- Mistake of Law and Mistake of Fact.
Mistake of law can be of two types further

(ii) mistake related to foreign laws

(i) mistake related to the law of the land

A mistake of fact can also be divided into two –

(a) bilateral mistake.

(b) unilateral mistake.

Bilateral mistake may relate to topics like the subject-matter where both parties are combinedly at fault. Mistake of fact regarding subject-matter may be the existence of, the identity of, the title of, quantity of, quality of the subject-matter, or even its price. Such a mistake makes the Contract void.
A unilateral mistake is when only one party is at fault by virtue of the assumption that there is the same sense of subject matters in both parties. For e.g. A wants to sell a horse but B thinks it’s a pony.

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This article has been written by Nidhi Chillar, Marketing Head and Co-editor at Lexpeeps.in

INTRODUCTION

Several categories of the Citizens have been defined under Part – II of the Constitution of India. A citizen of the state is a person who enjoys full membership of the state. The Citizens of the country are different from aliens and mere residents. Citizens have all the rights provided by the state which may not be available to aliens and residents. For example, in India, the aliens don’t enjoy all the Fundamental Rights, the right to vote is available to the citizens alone. Citizenship inheres only in natural persons and not in juristic persons, like corporations.

What is Citizenship

Citizenship refers to the state of being recognized as a citizen of the state. Citizenship ensures that the person is a member of the state. It further provides the social and political rights to the citizens. A citizen has the right to take part in the governance and administration of the state.

Difference between Citizenship, Nationality, Overseas Citizenship and Resident

Nationality

Nationality refers to the status of belonging to a particular nation. Thus, the person enjoys the nationality of the place where he is born. For example, a person born in India, automatically acquires Indian Nationality, however, in order to obtain the citizenship of a country, a person is required to apply for it, whereas, the nationality is automatically vested on a person, he need not apply for it. A national of one country may apply for the citizenship of a different country. Thus, one can change his Citizenship but can not alter his/her nationality.

Overseas Citizenship

Overseas Citizenship is granted to the people who are not ordinarily the citizens of the country. Thus, the person of India who migrated to other countries except for Pakistan and Bangladesh and has obtained foreign citizenship is awarded overseas citizenship. This should not be confused with dual citizenship. Overseas citizenship is provided only if the home country allows dual citizenship in some form or the other. However, the Overseas Citizens cannot enjoy all the rights which are provided to the citizen of the country for example

1. Overseas don’t have the right to vote.

2. He is not eligible to obtain an Indian passport.

3. One can not contest the elections of Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha, Legislative Assembly or Legislative Council.

4. A person can not hold constitutional posts like President, Vice-President or the Judge of a Court.

5. He is not eligible to apply for government jobs.

6. He can not acquire the agricultural or plantation property but can inherit the same.

Resident

A resident is a person who resides in a country. A resident is not always the Citizen of the country. A foreign national residing in India can be termed as a Resident of India but not necessarily the Citizen of India unless he acquires Citizenship.

What are the different modes of acquiring Citizenship

Article 5, 6 and 8 of the Indian Constitution specifies certain methods by which a person can acquire the citizenship of India. These are discussed below:

By Domicile

Article 5 lays down two conditions for citizenship

A person must have the domicile in the territory of India before the commencement of the Act.
He must fulfil any of the three conditions given below:

He must have born in the territory of India, or
Either of his parents must have born in the territory of India, or
He must have been ordinarily resident in the territory of India for not less than 5 years immediately preceding such commencement.

‘Domicile’ refers to the intention of residing in a country for an indefinite period.

The domicile is of two types:

Domicile of Origin
Domicile of Choice

1) Domicile of Origin

Every person is born with the Domicile of Origin. The domicile of origin is received by him at the time of his birth. The basis of obtaining such domicile is the paternity or maternity. Thus, a child will acquire the domicile of the same country to which the father was domiciled at the time of the child’s birth. The domicile of origin continues until a person acquires the domicile of choice. Once the domicile of choice is suspended then he again obtains the domicile of origin. In the case of a posthumous child, the child will have the domicile of the country to which his father was domiciled at the time of death.

2. Domicile of Choice

A person can acquire the domicile of choice by fulfilling two conditions:

a) Residing in a particular place

(b) Intention to reside permanently or for an indefinite period.

It must be noted that a child whose parents are unknown gets the domicile of the country in which he is found. After the marriage, the wife acquires the domicile of the husband. However, the case is different if they are judicially separated. In India, a person can not have two domiciles.

Citizenship by Migration

Article 6 of the Constitution of India provides that any person who has migrated to the territory of India from Pakistan shall be the Citizen of India at the commencement of the Constitution of India. For the purpose of Citizenship, people have been classified into two categories:

Those who migrated to India before 19th July 1948
Those who migrated India after 19th July 1948

The people who have migrated to India before 19th July 1948 have to fulfil two conditions in order to obtain citizenship:

The person migrated to India or either of his parents or either of his grandparents was born in India as defined in the Government of India Act, 1935.
The person migrated to India has been ordinarily residing in the territory of India since the date of the migration.

The people who have migrated to India after 19th July 1948 have to fulfil the following four conditions

The person migrated to India or either of his parents or either of his grandparents was born in India as defined in the Government of India Act, 1935.
The person has applied for citizenship.
He has resided in India for 6 months
He has been registered as a citizen of India by the officer appointed by the Government of the Dominion of India.

Citizenship by Registration

Article 8 of the Indian Constitution provides that the persons whose parents or grandparents were born in Indian but residing abroad can obtain the citizenship of India by registration.

Persons Voluntarily acquiring citizenship of a foreign state

Article 9 provides that any person who has voluntarily acquired the citizenship of a foreign state shall not remain the citizen of India. The cases of voluntary acquisition of foreign citizenship shall be dealt with by the Government of India under the Citizenship Act, 1955.

Rights of Citizens

Certain rights are available only to the citizens of India and not the aliens or foreign nationals. These rights are:

Right to Vote
Prohibition of discrimination on the basis of race, caste, sex, place of birth. (Article 15)
Right to Equality of opportunity in matters of public employment. (Article 16)
Protection of Freedom of Speech and Expression. (Article 19)
Protection of language, script or culture of the minorities. (Article-29)
Right of minorities to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice.

Power of Parliament to make laws with respect to citizenship

Article – 11 of the Indian Constitution provides that the Parliament can make laws related to the acquisition and termination of citizenship and matters relating to citizenship. In exercise of this power, the parliament enacted the Citizenship Act in 1955. Several changes were made in the Act in 2003 and 2005 to introduce the concept of overseas citizenship of India.

References

V.N. Shukla, Constitution of India 44 (13th ed. 2017)
State Trading Corpn. of India Ltd. v. CTO, AIR 1963 SC 1811
Anmol Goyal and Sumit Gyal, Concept of Domicile, 1 JUSIMPERATOR, 5 (2017)
Pradeep Jain v. Union of India, (1984) 3 SCC 654
D.P. Joshi v. State of Madhya Bharat, AIR 1955 SC 334
Kulathil Mammu v. State of Kerala, AIR 1966 SC 1614
State of U.P. v. Rehmatullah, (1971) 2 SCC 113

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