KSLU Solved Question Papers
Contract I
Previous Year Question Paper with Solution
B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) · Sem 4
2026 Jan Examination
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Mumbai
B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) Sem 4 Contract I 2026 Jan Question Paper with Solutions
First published on munotes.in on 21 October 2026.
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Contents
The questions below are the paper as Karnataka State Law University set it at the 2026 Jan examination, in the order it was set.
MarksPage
MarksPage
The Paper as Set
The questions in this volume are the questions asked at the 2026 Jan 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) Answer all five Units. (2) One essay type and one short note/problem is compulsory from each Unit. (3) Figures to the right indicate mark. (4) Answers should be written in English or in 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 offer. Explain with the help of decided cases the rules relating to a valid offer.[10]
Answer
For full marks, cover: the definition in section 2(a) and its key words; the difference between an offer and an invitation to offer; the rules of a valid offer, each with its authority (intention to create legal relations, definite terms, communication, offer and invitation, general offer, no negative term, conditions brought to notice); Balfour, Harvey v. Facey, Boots, Carlill and Lalman Shukla explained; a conclusion.
Meaning of offer
The Indian Contract Act 1872 uses the word "proposal". English law and most textbooks use "offer". The two words mean the same thing.
Section 2(a) defines it: "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."
The person who makes the offer is the offeror or promisor. The person to whom it is made is the offeree. When the offeree accepts, the offer becomes a promise under section 2(b).
The key words of the definition
- Signifies. The willingness must be made known to the other person. A wish kept in one's mind is not an offer. Section 3 says it may be made known by any act or omission.
- To another. There must be two persons. One cannot make an offer to oneself.
- To do or to abstain from doing. An offer may be positive, such as an offer to sell a car. It may also be negative, such as an offer not to open a rival shop.
- With a view to obtaining the assent. This is the most important part. The offeror must intend that a simple "yes" from the other person will bind him. This separates an offer from mere talk or an inquiry.
Rule 1: the offer must be made to create legal relations
An offer must be made with the intention that the parties will be legally bound. A social or domestic promise is not an offer in law.
Balfour v. Balfour, [1919] 2 KB 571. A husband worked for the Government in Ceylon. His wife stayed in England for her health. He promised to pay her 30 pounds a month. Later the marriage broke down and he stopped paying. The Court of Appeal held that she could not sue. A domestic arrangement between husband and wife is presumed not to be meant as a legal contract.
This case shows why an invitation to dinner or a promise of pocket money is not an offer.
Rule 2: the terms must be definite or capable of being made definite
An offer must be certain. Section 29 says that agreements "the meaning of which is not certain, or capable of being made certain, are void". Illustration (a) to section 29 is an offer to sell "a hundred tons of oil" with nothing to show what kind of oil. It is void for uncertainty.
Rule 3: an offer is different from an invitation to offer
Many statements look like offers but only invite the other side to make an offer. This is called an invitation to offer or invitation to treat. Price lists, catalogues, advertisements for sale, goods displayed in a shop and tender notices are examples.
Harvey v. Facey, [1893] AC 552 (Privy Council). Harvey telegraphed: "Will you sell us Bumper Hall Pen? Telegraph lowest cash price." Facey replied: "Lowest price for Bumper Hall Pen £900." Harvey replied that he agreed to buy at that price. Facey refused to sell. The Privy Council held that there was no contract. Facey had only answered the question about price. He had not offered to sell. Harvey's last telegram was itself an offer, and Facey never accepted it.
Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain v. Boots Cash Chemists (Southern) Ltd., [1953] 1 QB 401. Boots ran a self-service shop. The law required certain medicines to be sold under a pharmacist's supervision. A pharmacist stood at the cash desk. The Court of Appeal held that goods on the shelves were only an invitation to offer. The customer made the offer at the cash desk, and the shop accepted it there. So the sale was supervised and lawful.
Rule 4: an offer may be specific or general
A specific offer is made to a particular person. Only that person can accept it.
A general offer is made to the public at large. Anyone who performs its conditions accepts it. Section 8 says that performance of the conditions of a proposal is an acceptance.
Carlill v. Carbolic Smoke Ball Co., [1893] 1 QB 256. The company advertised a reward of 100 pounds. It would pay anyone who caught influenza after using its smoke ball three times a day for two weeks. It said it had deposited 1,000 pounds with the Alliance Bank to show it was sincere. Mrs Carlill used the smoke ball as directed and caught influenza. The Court of Appeal held that the advertisement was an offer to the whole world. She accepted it by doing what it asked. No separate notice of acceptance was needed.
Rule 5: the offer must be communicated
An offer has no effect until it reaches the offeree. Section 4 says the communication of a proposal is complete "when it comes to the knowledge of the person to whom it is made". A person cannot accept an offer he does not know about.
Lalman Shukla v. Gauri Dutt, decided by the Allahabad High Court in 1913. Gauri Dutt's nephew went missing. He sent his clerk, Lalman Shukla, to search for the boy. Later he announced a reward of Rs 501 for whoever found the boy. Lalman found the boy without knowing about the reward. The court held that he could not claim it. He could not accept an offer of which he had no knowledge.
Other rules
- An offer may be express or implied. Section 9 says a promise made in words is express. A promise made otherwise than in words is implied. A bus running on its route makes an implied offer to carry passengers.
- An offer cannot say that silence will be acceptance. The offeror cannot force the offeree to reply in order to avoid a contract.
- Special terms must be brought to the offeree's notice. Printed conditions on a ticket bind the customer only if reasonable notice of them was given before the contract was made.
- Cross offers make no contract. If A and B post identical offers to each other at the same time, there is no acceptance, so there is no contract.
- An offer may lapse or be revoked. Section 6 explains how, for example by the passing of the time fixed or a reasonable time.
Offer and invitation to offer compared
| Point | Offer | Invitation to offer |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose | to be bound by acceptance | to invite offers from others |
| Point | Offer | Invitation to offer |
|---|---|---|
| Effect of a "yes" | a contract is formed | no contract is formed |
| Examples | reward notice in Carlill | shop display in Boots, price reply in Harvey v. Facey |
Conclusion. An offer under section 2(a) is a willingness to do or not to do something. It is made known to another so that his assent will bind the maker. To be valid it must be meant to create legal relations, it must be definite, and it must reach the offeree. It must also be a real offer and not merely an invitation to make one. The cases of Balfour, Harvey v. Facey, Boots, Carlill and Lalman Shukla show each rule at work.
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