CHAPTER IV OF THE PERFORMANCE OF CONTRACTS · Performance of reciprocal promises

Section 56: Agreement to do impossible act

An agreement to do an act impossible in itself is void.

Contract to do an act afterwards becoming impossible or unlawful.—A contract to do an act which, after the contract is made, becomes impossible, or, by reason of some event which the promisor could not prevent, unlawful, becomes void when the act becomes impossible or unlawful.¹

Compensation for loss through non-performance of act known to be impossible or unlawful.— Where one person has promised to do something which he knew, or, with reasonable diligence, might have known, and which the promisee did not know, to be impossible or unlawful, such promisor must make compensation to such promisee for any loss which such promisee sustains through the non-performance of the promise.

Illustrations

(a) A agrees with B to discover treasure by magic. The agreement is void.

(b) A and B contract to marry each other. Before the time fixed for the marriage, A goes mad. The contract becomes void.

(c) A contracts to marry B, being already married to C, and being forbidden by the law to which he is subject to practise polygamy, A must make compensation to B for the loss caused to her by the non-performance of his promise.

(d) A contracts to take in cargo for B at a foreign port. A’s Government afterwards declares war against the country in which the port is situated. The contract becomes void when war is declared.

(e) A contracts to act at a theatre for six months in consideration of a sum paid in advance by B. On several occasions A is too ill to act. The contract to act on those occasions becomes void.

Footnotes in the official text

1.See s. 65, infra.

Leading cases

Satyabrata Ghose v. Mugneeram Bangur and Co. (1953)The Court held that frustration in India is governed by Section 56 of the Contract Act, reading 'impossible' in a practical sense, and that wartime requisition of the land did not frustrate a contract to sell a plot.

Questions on this section

7 questions in 27 of our papers cite Section 56. Try these from the free papers:

1. A contracts to take in cargo for B at a foreign port. Before performance, A's Government declares war against the country in which the port is situated. Under Section 56 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872, the contract:
2. A contractor agrees with a municipal body to build a school at a fixed price. Midway through the work, the prices of cement and steel rise by about 40 percent because of market conditions, making the work far less profitable but still possible to perform. The contract has no clause dealing with price rise. The contractor stops work, claiming frustration. Under Section 56 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872:

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