KSLU Solved Question Papers
Contract I
Previous Year Question Paper with Solution
B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) · Sem 4
2018 Dec Examination
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Mumbai
B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) Sem 4 Contract I 2018 Dec Question Paper with Solutions
First published on munotes.in on 21 October 2026.
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The question paper reproduced here is the paper as set by Karnataka State Law University at the 2018 Dec examination.
Contents
The questions below are the paper as Karnataka State Law University set it at the 2018 Dec examination, in the order it was set.
MarksPage
MarksPage
The Paper as Set
The questions in this volume are the questions asked at the 2018 Dec examination, reproduced as Karnataka State Law University set them, in the order it set them. Long reading passages are shortened to their first and last lines and our summary; the original paper prints them in full. Only the answers are ours. See the original question paper.
Duration 3 hours · Total marks 80 · 20 questions answered
Instructions printed on the paper
- N.B. (1) 1) Answer all five units. 2) One essay type question and short note/problem is compulsory from each Unit. 3) Figures to the right indicate marks. 4) Answer should be written either in English or Kannada completely.
How to use this volume
Solve the paper first, under exam conditions and against the clock. Then read the answers here and mark your own. Reading a solution before attempting the question feels productive and teaches very little, because recognising an answer is not the same as being able to write one.
Q1
Unit I
(a)Define Proposal. Explain the circumstances under which it lapses.[10]
Answer
For full marks, cover: the definition of a proposal (section 2(a)) and its elements in one line; what lapse means (the proposal can no longer be accepted); the ways a proposal ends, grouped by what ends it: the proposer (revocation before acceptance is complete, sections 5 and 6(1), Byrne v. Van Tienhoven, and the Indian requirement that notice come from the proposer, contrasted with Dickinson v. Dodds); the offeree (rejection and counter-offer, Hyde v. Wrench; failure of a condition precedent, section 6(3)); time (section 6(2), Ramsgate Victoria Hotel v. Montefiore); events (death or insanity known to the acceptor, section 6(4); destruction of the subject matter or a change in the law); a table; a conclusion.
The proposal
Section 2(a) of the Indian Contract Act 1872 says: "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". Its elements are a willingness to do or not do something, communicated to another, made in order to obtain his assent.
What lapse means
A proposal does not stay open for ever. Once it lapses or is revoked, it is dead. An "acceptance" after that makes no contract. At most it is a fresh proposal from the other side. The ways in which a proposal comes to an end can be grouped by what ends it.
1. Ended by the proposer: revocation
When. Section 5 says a proposal "may be revoked at any time before the communication of its acceptance is complete as against the proposer, but not afterwards". Under section 4, an acceptance is complete against the proposer when it is put in course of transmission to him. So a proposer who receives a posted acceptance late is already bound from the time of posting.
How. Section 6(1) says a proposal is revoked "by the communication of notice of revocation by the proposer to the other party". The revocation must reach the offeree before he accepts.
Byrne and Co. v. Van Tienhoven and Co., (1880) 5 CPD 344. The defendants posted an offer to sell tinplates on 1 October and a revocation on 8 October. The revocation reached the plaintiffs on 20 October. Meanwhile the plaintiffs had accepted by telegram on 11 October. The court held that a contract was made on 11 October. A revocation counts only when it is received.
Who must give notice. In England, an offeree who learns from a reliable third person that the offer has been withdrawn cannot accept it.
Dickinson v. Dodds, (1876) 2 Ch D 463. Dodds offered to sell a house to Dickinson, saying the offer would stay open until Friday morning. On Thursday, Dickinson learnt from a third person that Dodds had agreed to sell to someone else. The Court of Appeal held that the offer had gone, and there was no contract.
Section 6(1) speaks of notice "by the proposer". So in India, the safer view is that the revocation must come from the proposer or his agent. Information picked up from a stranger may not be enough.
2. Ended by the offeree
Rejection or counter-offer. A proposal ends when the offeree rejects it, or replies with new terms.
Hyde v. Wrench, (1840) 3 Beav 334. Wrench offered his farm for £1,000. Hyde offered £950, which Wrench refused. Hyde then tried to accept the £1,000 offer. The court held there was no contract, because the counter-offer had rejected the original offer.
Failure of a condition precedent. Section 6(3) says a proposal is revoked "by the failure of the acceptor to fulfil a condition precedent to acceptance". Suppose an offer to sell a car is made on condition that the buyer pays a deposit by Monday. If he does not pay, the offer lapses.
3. Ended by time
Section 6(2) says a proposal is revoked "by the lapse of the time prescribed in such proposal for its acceptance, or, if no time is so prescribed, by the lapse of a reasonable time, without communication of the acceptance". What is reasonable depends on the subject matter. An offer of perishable goods lapses quickly. An offer to sell land lasts longer.
Ramsgate Victoria Hotel Co. v. Montefiore, (1866) LR 1 Ex 109. The defendant applied for shares in June 1864. The company allotted them only in November. The court held that his offer had lapsed after a reasonable time, so he was not bound to take the shares.
4. Ended by events
Death or insanity. Section 6(4) says a proposal is revoked "by the death or insanity of the proposer, if the fact of his death or insanity comes to the knowledge of the acceptor before acceptance". So an acceptance made in ignorance of the proposer's death may still create a contract, binding his estate.
Destruction of the subject matter or a change in the law. If the thing offered is destroyed before acceptance, or the transaction becomes unlawful, the proposal lapses. There is nothing left that can lawfully be agreed.
| What ends it | How | Source |
|---|---|---|
| The proposer | notice of revocation, before acceptance is complete | sections 5, 6(1); Byrne v. Van Tienhoven |
| The offeree | rejection or counter-offer | Hyde v. Wrench |
| The offeree | failure of a condition precedent | section 6(3) |
| Time | the time fixed, or a reasonable time | section 6(2); Ramsgate Victoria Hotel |
| What ends it | How | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Events | death or insanity known to the acceptor | section 6(4) |
| Events | destruction of the subject matter, change in law | general law |
Conclusion. A proposal under section 2(a) is a willingness, communicated to another, to do or not do something in order to obtain his assent. It lapses when the proposer revokes it in time, by notice that reaches the offeree, as Byrne v. Van Tienhoven shows. It also lapses when the offeree rejects it or makes a counter-offer, as in Hyde v. Wrench, or fails a condition precedent. Time ends it under section 6(2), as in Ramsgate Victoria Hotel, and so does the proposer's death or insanity known to the acceptor. After lapse, there is nothing left to accept.
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