Question

Legal Principle: An agreement, the meaning of which is not certain, or capable of being made certain, is void.

Factual Situation: M offered to sell his land to N at $280.Nrepliedacceptingtheofferandenclosing$30 and promising to pay the balance amount by monthly installments of $50 each.Since N accepted the offer subject to making payments in installments.
Issue: Is there a valid contract?

• A. It is not a valid contract because the acceptance is conditional and qualified.It is a voidable contract at the option of M who had made an offer and N sent the conditional acceptance.
• B. It is a valid contract as M had made the offer and N accepted it.
• C. It is a contract void ab initio.
• D. None of these.

Answer 1

Answer: (A)

It is not a valid contract because the acceptance is conditional and qualified.It is a voidable contract at the option of M who had made an offer and N sent the conditional acceptance.

Section 7 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872 states that for a proposal to be converted to a promise, the acceptance given must be absolute and unqualified. In other words, there must not be any additional condition imposed at the time of acceptance. It must be accepted in the words of the proposal itself. Here, N has stated several qualifications at the time of indicating acceptance. So, there is no valid contract.