This article is written by Asha Kumari Manjhi ,Bhadrak Law College,3 year LL.B student during on internship at Le Droit India.
- Keywords :
- Communication
- Acceptance and revocation
- Performing conditions
- Receiving Consideration
- Promise, Express, Implied.
- Introduction:
The communication of proposals, the acceptance of proposals, and the revocation of proposals and acceptances, respectively, are deemed to be 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.
- Communication when complete :
The communication of proposal is complete when it comes to the knowledge of the of the person to whom it is made.
The communication of an acceptance is complete –
- As against the person who makes it, when it is put into a course of transmission to him so as to be out of the power of the acceptor;
- As against the acceptor, when it comes to the knowledge of the proposer.
The communication of a revocation is complete –
- As against the person who makes it, when it is put into a course of transmission to the person to whom it is made, so as to be out of the power of the person who makes it;
- As against the person to whom it is made, when it comes to his knowledge.
- Illustrations ;
- Aproposes,by letter,to sell a house to B at a certain price.
The communication of the proposal is complete when B receives the letter.
- B accepts A’s proposal by a letter sent by post.
The communication of the acceptance is complete, as against A when the letter is posted; as against B, when the letter is received by A.
- A revokes his proposal by telegram.
The revocation is complete as against A when the telegram is dispatched. It is complete as against B when B receives it. B revokes his acceptance by telegram .B’s revocation is complete as against B when the telegram is dispatched, and as against A when it reaches him.
- Revocation of Proposals and acceptance –
A proposal may be revoked at any time before the communication of its acceptance is complete as against the proposer ,but not afterwards.
An acceptance may be revoked at any time before the communication of the acceptance is complete as against the acceptor ,by not afterwards.
- Illustration :
- A proposes ,by a letter sent by post, to sell his house to B. B accepts the proposal by a letter sent by post.
- A may revoke his proposal at any time before or at the moment when B posts his letter of acceptance,but not afterwards.
- B may revoke his acceptance at any time before or at the moment when the letter communicating it reaches A, but not afterwards.
- Revocation how made – A proposal is revoked-
- By the communication of notice of revocation by the proposer to the other party;
- By the lapse of the time prescribed in such proposal for its acceptance, or , if no time is prescribed, by the lapse of a reasonable time ,without communication of the acceptance;
- By the failure of the acceptor to fulfil a condition precedent to acceptance;or.
- By the death or insanity of the proposer, if the fact of his death or insanity comes to the knowledge of the acceptor before acceptance.
- Acceptance must be absolute –
In order to convert a proposal into a promise the acceptance must-
- be absolute and unqualified;
- be expressed in some usual and reasonable manner ,unless the proposal prescribes the manner in which it is to be accepted . If the proposal prescribes a manner in which it is to be accepted ,and the acceptance is not made in such manner ,the proposer may ,within a reasonable time after the acceptance is communicated to him ,insist that his proposal shall be accepted in the prescribed manner , and not otherwise ;but if he fails to do so, he accepts the acceptance.
- Acceptance by performing conditions , or receiving consideration-
Performance of the conditions of a proposal ,or the acceptance of any consideration for a reciprocal promise which may be offered with a proposal ,is an acceptance of the proposal.
- Promises, express and implied – In so far as the proposal or acceptance of any promise is made in words ,the promise is said to be express. In so far as such proposal or acceptance is made otherwise than in words , the promise is said to be implied.
- Landmark judgment –
- Powell v. Lee (1908)
- Bhagwandas Goverdhandas Kedia v. M/s. Girdharilal Parshottamdas And Co
- Baroda Oil Cakes Traders vs Parshottam Narayandas Bagulia And Anr.
- M.D.Air Deccan vs Shri Ram Gopal Agarwal
- Jai Narain Parasurampuria (Dead) & Ors vs Pushpa Devi Saraf & Ors
- Sneh Gupta vs Devi Sarup & Ors
- Oil And Natural Gas Commission And Ors. vs Modern Construction And Company
- M/S Keti Construction India Ltd.,A vs State Of Madhya Pradesh
- Conclusion-
In simpler words, an offer can be revoked any time before the completion of communication of acceptance against the proposal. If the offer or and acceptor are in front of each other then as soon as the acceptor speaks the words for acceptance the communication of acceptance is complete against the proposal. The Indian Contract Act lays out the rules of revocation of an offer in Section 5. It says the offer may be revoked any time before the communication of the acceptance is complete against the proposer/offer or. Once the acceptance is communicated to the proposer, revocation of the offer is now not possible.
- Reference –
- APA Handbook of Interpersonal Communication by David Ricky Matsumoto
- The Communication Handbook by Joe DeVito
- Dictionary of Media and Communication Studies by James Watson and Anne Hill
- Encyclopedia of Communication and Information by Jorge Reina Schement
