Legal Environment of Business

When the rights and obligations arising out of a contract are extinguished, the contract is said to be discharged or terminated. In other words, discharge of a contract means termination of the relationship between the parties to a contract. The ways of discharging a contract can be discussed as:- i) Discharge of Contract By Performance: When a contract is duly performed by both the parties within the specified time and in the manner prescribed, the contract is said to have been performed and discharged. Performance may be: (a) Actual (b) Attempted. Actual Performance: When each party to a contract fulfils his obligation arising under the contract within the time and in the manner prescribed, it is called actual performance of the contract and the   contract is discharged. Attempted Performance — When the promisor offers to perform his obligation under the contract, but is unable to do so because the Continue reading

Rule of Caveat Emptor Caveat emptor is a Latin term meaning “let the buyer beware”. It is a general rule of law that a purchaser assumes the risk of his/her purchase. The intent of the rule is to place a duty of care on the buyer in selecting an item and putting forth appropriate inquiry before completing the sale. In this way, a seller is also protected from liability for buyer’s remorse. A seller is under no duty to reveal unflattered truths about the goods sold and therefore, whenever the buyer buys goods, he must exercise necessary care in his own interest. A buyer, in contract of sale of specific goods, purchases the goods at his own risk as regard as the quality, price of the goods except on the case of fraud or when any condition to that effect is laid down in the contract. A buyer cannot hold Continue reading

Definition of Contract According to section 2(h) of the Indian Contract Act: “An agreement enforceable by law is a contract.” A contract therefore, is an agreement the object of which is to create a legal obligation i.e., a duty enforceable by law. From the above definition, we find that a contract essentially consists of two elements: (1) An agreement and (2) Legal obligation i.e., a duty enforceable by law. We shall now examine these elements detail. 1. Agreement. As per section 2 (e): “Every promise and every set of promises, forming the consideration for each other, is an agreement.” Thus it is clear from this definition that a ‘promise’ is an agreement. What is a ‘promise’? The answer to this question is contained in section 2 (b) which defines the term.” When the person to whom the proposal is made signifies his assent thereto the proposal is said to be Continue reading

A ‘motion’ is a definite proposal put before a meeting for its consideration and adoption. A  ‘resolution’ on the other hand is the formal expression of the decision of a meeting. When a motion has  been duly voted upon and passed by a majority, with or without amendment, it is called a ‘resolution’. A  resolution once adopted and recorded in the minutes becomes the official decision of the meeting and  cannot be rescinded or revoked except by the consent of two-thirds majority in a meeting specially called  for the purpose. Kinds of Resolutions 1. Ordinary Resolution A resolution which is passed by a simple majority of votes cast by members present in person or  by proxy is called ‘ordinary resolution’. Simple majority means that the votes cast in  favor  of the  resolution must be at least one more than 50 per cent of the votes cast. An ordinary resolution must Continue reading