For a contract to be valid, it is important that the offer and acceptance are valid. An invalid offer or acceptance results in the nullity of the entire contract. The Indian Contracts Act contains provisions on valid acceptance and timing of withdrawal of an offer or acceptance. For a contract to be valid, it must be accepted. If the acceptance is not valid, neither party is bound by the terms of the contract and there is no breach of contract if something is done that contradicts the terms of the contract. Here are the main points of a valid acceptance: In General George Innih v. Ferado Agro Consortiums Ltd., 1990, the plaintiff made the plaintiff an offer to sell some of their properties, provided that he gave notice of acceptance within 3 days. The applicant accepted the offer, but requested a 2-week extension. The complainant sold her property to a third party, after which the plaintiff sued for breach of contract. The Court of Appeal held that the mention of a new clause in the offer nullifies the original offer and becomes a counter-offer that the previous supplier can accept or reject. The Indian Contract Act of 1872 defines acceptance in section 2(b) as follows: “If the person to whom the proposal has been submitted consents thereto, the offer shall be deemed accepted. Thus, the proposal, if adopted, becomes a promise. In the case of a particular offer, the offer may be accepted by the person or his representative to whom the offer was made.
If the offer is a general offer, anyone with knowledge of the offer may accept the offer. This section provides for a possibility of withdrawal after acceptance. The revocation must take place before the supplier becomes aware of the acceptance. While signing a contract is a common way to accept an offer, there are various other types of acceptance. For example, if you offer to paint your home for a certain amount of money and make an initial payment, receiving the advance payment itself is equivalent to acceptance by the contractor. ¢ If a deadline is specified, acceptance must take place within this period. ii) Acceptance must be absolute and unconditional: to be effective, it must be absolute and unconditional acceptance of all the terms and conditions of the offer. Even the slightest deviation from the terms of the offer makes acceptance. In fact, an acceptance of derivatives is legally considered a counter-offer. For example, L M offered his scooter for Rs. 4000 M, accepted the offer and offered Rs. 3900 in cash and promised to pay the balance of Rs.
100 to be paid in the evening. There is no contract, so the acceptance was not absolute and unconditional. (v) Acceptance must take place within a reasonable time and before the expiration of the offer: acceptance must take place within the specified period, if and if no time limit is agreed, acceptance must take place within a reasonable time, since a cassette cannot be kept open indefinitely. Offer and acceptance are the essential components of a contract. In both cases, this should be done voluntarily and with the intention of entering into a legally binding agreement.3 min spent reading This article was written by Shreya Pandey, who is pursuing an LLM from RamSwaroop University, Lucknow. The article contains information about valid acceptance, its basics, and the rules for valid acceptance in the contract. A contract is concluded only when the supplier receives a declaration of acceptance from the consignee. The communication can take place immediately or at a later date, for example by e-mail or post. Sometimes the recipient`s behavior can be an expression of acceptance. In such cases, it would not be a defence to say that the party did not intend to enter into a legally binding agreement.
Courts often refer to correspondence between the parties when deciding whether an acceptance has taken place. Section 2(b) of the Indian Contract Act of 1872 defines acceptance as follows: If a person to whom the proposal is submitted gives his consent, the proposal shall be deemed to have been accepted. A proposal, if accepted, becomes a promise. In the words of Sir William Anson, acceptance is to an offer what an illuminated match is to a gunpowder train. It produces something that cannot be recovered or cancelled. But the powder may have settled the moment it becomes wet, or the man who made the movement can remove it before a hot match is placed on it. In addition, it must be expressed in a prescribed manner. If no prescribed manner is described, it must be expressed in the usual and reasonable manner, that is, as would be the case in the ordinary course of business. Implicit acceptance can also be given by behavior, action, etc. A hypothesis can be made either by words (or) by behavior. If an offer is made, but the other party performs the actions required in the offer without knowing that the offer will be made, acceptance of the offer is not even possible. For an acceptance to take place, it is necessary for the offeree to have knowledge of the offer, but if the addressee, without knowing the offer, performs certain actions prescribed in the offer, this also does not constitute a valid acceptance.
¢ For effective acceptance, the acceptance must not only be made by the recipient, but it must also be communicated by the recipient to the bidder. ¢ The notification of acceptance must be explicit or tacit. Acceptance must be unconditional and unconditional. If the offer contains a condition or changes, the changes will make the acceptance a counter-offer and the initial offer will be cancelled. This is called the mirror image rule, where acceptance is reflected as a mirror under the terms of the offer. In other words, “a contractual acceptance” is not an acceptance. Article 7 speaks of absolute acceptance. This section specifies that any acceptance must be absolute, unqualified and express or implied, unless otherwise specified in the proposal. If the mode of expression is already mentioned in the offer, the addressee must express his agreement in this way. In Brogden vs.
Metropolitan Rly. In 1877, the question arose as to whether the treaty between Brogden and Metropolitan Rly Co. was valid. The facts indicate that Brogden is the plaintiff who previously supplied coal to Metropolitan Rly Co. (respondent). Previously, both parties acted informally and without a contract. Subsequently, the defendant decided to enter into a formal contract. The defendant therefore drafted a contract and sent it to the plaintiff. The plaintiff made certain amendments to the contract and forwarded the project to the defendant, who submitted the agreement but never notified acceptance and continued with the supply and purchase of coal. If a dispute has arisen between the parties, the question of the validity of the contract arises. The court concluded that there was a valid contract between the parties, because although the acceptance of the counter-offer was not communicated, the defendant accepted it by conduct and the coal was delivered and payment was made in accordance with the project.