Consideration

Something in return, asked for by the promisor

Consideration is the reason the law looks for a bargain rather than a bare gift of a promise. The definition section students are sent to first is section 10, already used in . The wider chapter is . If you are asking what happens when a promise that had consideration is broken, that is , not this page. The desire of the promisor matters in the textbook definition: a volunteer act the promisor did not request is a weak candidate for consideration. Read the definition in the Act before you paraphrase it in an exam.

Past, present, and adequacy

Students sort consideration by time. Present and future returns can be consideration when the Act’s definition is met. A past act, already done, is the hard case, and the usual answer is that it is not consideration for a later promise unless a specific exception you have opened applies. Adequacy is a different question. The law does not, in the ordinary teaching, price the bargain for the parties. A small return can still be consideration. No return cannot. Do not invent a rupee minimum. The Act’s exceptions, including those about natural love and affection or a completed voluntary act in the narrow cases the statute states, are in the text. This note will not number them from memory.

How to write it

Say what was promised and what, if anything, was given or promised in return. Say whether the promisor asked for it. If the only fact is a later thank-you for old help, say past consideration is the issue and that you will check the exceptions in the Act rather than assume one applies. Do not declare a gift deed valid. Gifts of property are a different statute.

A hypothetical about a late promise

Hypothetical. Last month Arun helped a neighbour move house, with no talk of pay. Today the neighbour promises ₹5,000 for that help. A student calls the move “consideration.” The rewrite says the move was finished before the promise, nothing in the problem shows it was done at the neighbour’s request as a bargain, and a past favour is not automatically consideration. The ₹5,000 figure is the neighbour’s later promise, not proof of a contract. The exception sections stay closed until someone opens the Act.

A checklist for consideration

Look for a bargain. 1. Identify the promise. 2. Identify the return. 3. Ask whether the promisor requested it. 4. If the return is wholly past, say so. 5. Open any exception before you rely on it. 6. Do not confuse a small price with no price. 7. Confirm the Act on India Code.

Kanoons Academy does not currently list a separate LAWCET, CLAT, or AP LAWCET batch in the catalogue; these notes are study material, and counselling is via . The nearest catalogue course is . That course teaches how to read an Act, a rule, and a judgment note. It is not an entrance-test batch, and the button on this page uses the course’s own name.