Gairik Sanyal, Amity Law School Kolkata
Introduction
Before the arrival of the British in the Indian subcontinent, civil agreements were made and honoured based on the religious laws prevalent in the country. While the courts often honoured or dishonoured contracts on the grounds only of moral precepts yet some guiding principles were used from religio legal texts. The third Indian law commission was entrusted with the task of drafting a contract act for the whole of India when the British felt the need for modern laws of contract for smooth business in India. The commission’s draft bill could not fructify but set the ball rolling for future efforts in the area. The final draft of the Act which was adopted in 1872 was a motley of provisions taken from various sources. Primary among them was the British contract Act and the New York code of 1872. It was the brain-child of Sir James Fitzjames Stephens. The personal laws were applied till the enactment of the statute and even after its enactment there was some confusion regarding matters where the text of the statute was in direct contradiction to the personal laws.
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