Free consent
Two or more persons are said to consent when they agree upon the same thing in the same sense.
Consent is said to be free when it is not caused by coercion, undue influence, fraud, misrepresentation or mistake.
Coercion
Coercion is the committing or threatening to commit any act forbidden by the PPC, or the unlawful detaining or threatening to detain any property, to the prejudice of any person whatever, with the intention of causing any person to enter into an agreement.
Essentials of Coercion
- Committing or threatening to commit
- Unlawfully detaining or threatening to detain
- Threat may be against third party
- Enforcement of PPC
Undue Influence
A contract is said to be induced by undue influence where the relations subsisting between the parties are such that one of the parties is in a position to dominate the will of the other, and uses that position to obtain an unfair advantage over the other.
Essentials of undue influence
- Position to dominate
- Unfair advantage
- Real or apparent authority
- Fiduciary relationship
Fraud
Fraud means and includes any of the following acts committed by a party to a contract or with his connivance or by his agent with intent to deceive or to induce another party thereto or his agent to enter into the contract
Essentials of Fraud
- Suggestion regarding facts
- Active concealment of facts
- Promise without intention of performing
- Any act with intention to deceive
- Any act or omission
Misrepresentation
Misrepresentation means an innocent misstatement of facts about the contract, made by one party to induce the other party to enter into a contract.
Elements of free consent