Head Office, Dhaka.
THE CONTRACT ACT, 1872
Md. Hasan Imam Manager
Board Division
Introduction:
The law of contract is the foundation upon which the superstructure of modern business is built. It is frequent that in business transactions quite often promises are made at one time and the performance follows later. The law of contract is applicable not only in business community, but also to others. Everyone of us enters into a number of contracts almost everyday, and most of the time we do so without even realizing what we are doing from the point of law.
Object and Scope:
The law of contract deals with agreements which can be enforced through courts of law. The law of contract is the most important part of commercial law because every commercial transaction starts from an agreement between two or persons.
The object of the law of contract is to introduce definiteness in commercial and other transactions.
According to Salmond, a contract is ‘an agreement creating and defining obligations between the parties’.
Application:
The Contract Act, 1872 lays down certain general rules regarding contracts. The Act is not exhaustive. There are other Acts relating to particular types of contracts e.g., the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881; the Transfer of Property Act, 1882 etc.
Commencement:
The Contract Act, 1872 came into force on the 1st day of September, 1872.
The Contract Act, 1872 is based mainly on English Common Law which is to a large extent made up of judicial precedents because there is no separate Contract Act in England.
Some Definitions:
S.2(a) : When one person signifies to another his willingness to do or to abstain from doing anything, with a view to obtaining the assent of that other to such act or abstinence, he is said to make a proposal:
S.2(b) : When the person to whom the proposal is made signifies his assent thereto, the proposal is said to be accepted. A proposal, when accepted