Indian Contract Act, 1872
19. Voidability of agreements without
free consent
When consent to an agreement is caused by coercion, 4A[***]
fraud or misrepresentation, the agreement is a contract voidable at the option
of the party whose consent was so caused.
A party to a contract, whose consent was caused by fraud or
misrepresentation, may, if he thinks fit, insist that the contract shall be
performed, and that he shall be put on the position in which he would have been
if the representations made had been true.
Exception : If such consent was caused by
misrepresentation or by silence, fraudulent within the meaning of section 17,
the contract, nevertheless, is not voidable, if the party whose consent was so
caused had the means of discovering the truth with ordinary diligence.
Explanation: A fraud or misrepresentation which did not
cause the consent to a contract of the party on whom such fraud was practiced,
or to whom such misrepresentation was made, does not render a contract
voidable.
Illustrations
(a) A, intending to deceive B, falsely represents that five
hundred maunds of indigo are made annually at A's factory, and thereby induces
B to buy the factory. The contract is voidable at the option of B.
(b) A, by a misrepresentation, leads B erroneously to believe
that five hundred mounds of indigo are made annually at A's factory. B examines
the accounts of the factory, which show that only four hundred maunds of indigo
have been made. After this B buys the factory. The contract is not voidable on
account of A's misrepresentation.
(c) A fraudulently informs B that A's estate is free from
encumbrance. B thereupon buys the estate. The estate is subject to a mortgage.
B may either avoid the contract, or may insist on its being carried out and the
mortgage-debt redeemed.
(d) B, having discovered a vein of ore on the estate of A,
adopts means to conceal, and does conceal the existence of the ore from A.
Though A's ignorance B is enabled to buy the estate at an undervalue. The
contract is voidable at the option of A.
(e) A is entitled to succeed to an estate at the death of B, B
dies; C having received intelligence of B's death, prevents the intelligence
reaching A, and thus induces A to sell him his interest in the estate. The sale
is voidable at the option of A.