Defences in Suits for Relief Based on Contract

No valid contract.

• Incompetency: minority, unsoundness of mind, disqualification, sections 11 and 12.
• Unlawful consideration or object, section 23, and agreements void in part, section 24.
• Void agreements: restraint of marriage, trade or legal proceedings, sections 26 to 28; wager, section 30.
• Bilateral mistake, section 20.

Consent not free, so the contract is voidable and has been avoided.

• Coercion, undue influence, fraud, misrepresentation, sections 15 to 18, with the remedies in sections 19 and 19A.

The contract is at an end, or performance is excused.

• Frustration, section 56.
• Novation, rescission or alteration, section 62; remission or waiver, section 63.
• Tender refused, section 38; the promisee's neglect, section 67.
• Accord and satisfaction.

Formalities and other statutes.

• Want of registration where the law requires it, preserved by section 3(b) of this Act.
• Want of stamp, which goes to admissibility in evidence.
• Any statutory prohibition on the transaction.

Time.

• Limitation under the Limitation Act 1963.

The Act's own defences, which section 9 does not displace

These are additional, and they are the defences a defendant reaches for after the general ones. Each has its own chapter.

A worked example

Yamini sues Zubair for specific performance of an agreement by which he was to sell her a plot for one crore rupees.

• Zubair says he was seventeen when he signed. A defence under section 11 of the Contract Act, admitted by section 9: the agreement is void and there is nothing to enforce.
• He says the agreement was obtained by threatening to file a false criminal case against his brother. Coercion, section 15 of the Contract Act, so the contract is voidable under section 19 and he may avoid it. Admitted by section 9.
• He says the price was left to be agreed later. Uncertainty, section 29 of the Contract Act. Admitted by section 9.
• He says the plot was compulsorily acquired before the completion date. Frustration, section 56 of the Contract Act, so the contract became void.
• He says the agreement is unregistered. Not a defence to the suit as such, but section 3(b) of this Act preserves the Registration Act, and the decree cannot dispense with a registered conveyance.
• He says Yamini never had the money. This is not a general contract defence but the Act's own, under section 16(c): she must prove that she has performed or has always been ready and willing.
• He says the written agreement omits a term about a right of way that both intended. Section 18(a): where by mistake or misrepresentation the written contract does not contain all the terms agreed, the plaintiff cannot obtain performance except with the variation set up.

What it does NOT mean

"Only the defences in the Specific Relief Act are available." Section 9 exists to say the opposite.

"Section 9 lets a defendant escape the Act's own rules." The opening words, "except as otherwise provided herein", preserve them.

"'Any law relating to contracts' means the Contract Act." It is wider, and takes in the Transfer of Property Act, the Sale of Goods Act, the Registration Act and the Stamp Act among others.

"Section 9 gives the defendant a remedy." It gives him a defence. His own claims, for rescission or cancellation, come from Chapters IV and V.

Quick revision

• s.9: in any relief claimed under Chapter II in respect of a contract, the defendant may plead any ground available to him under any law relating to contracts, except as otherwise provided in this Act.
• It makes the whole of Modules I to III available as a defence, and s.2(e) imports the Contract Act's definitions.
• General defences: no agreement, no consideration, uncertainty; incompetency; unlawful object; void agreements; bilateral mistake; coercion, undue influence, fraud, misrepresentation; frustration; novation, remission; tender refused; registration, stamp, limitation.
• The Act's own defences: s.11(2), s.14, s.16, s.17, s.18, and s.19(b) protects a bona fide transferee for value without notice.
• "Any law relating to contracts" is wider than the Contract Act 1872.

Test yourself

1. State section 9 and explain its effect. Except as otherwise provided in the Act, where any relief is claimed under Chapter II in respect of a contract, the person against whom the relief is claimed may plead by way of defence any ground available to him under any law relating to contracts. Its effect is that a defendant to a suit for specific performance is not confined to the defences the Specific Relief Act itself provides; the whole general law of contract is open to him.

2. Give five defences that section 9 lets in. That the defendant was a minor and so incompetent under section 11 of the Contract Act; that the agreement was without consideration and void under section 25; that his consent was caused by coercion, undue influence, fraud or misrepresentation, making the contract voidable under sections 19 and 19A; that the agreement is void for uncertainty under section 29; and that the contract has become void by frustration under section 56.

3. Does "any law relating to contracts" mean only the Contract Act? No. The phrase is wider and takes in any statute bearing on the contract, including the Transfer of Property Act 1882, the Sale of Goods Act 1930, the Registration Act 1908 and the Indian Stamp Act 1899, as well as the general law.

4. What do the opening words of section 9 preserve? The words "except as otherwise provided herein" preserve the Specific Relief Act's own provisions, so a defendant cannot use section 9 to escape a rule this Act imposes. Section 19(b), for example, makes specific performance enforceable against a person claiming under a party by a subsequent title unless he is a transferee for value who paid in good faith and without notice.

5. Name the defences the Act itself supplies in a specific performance suit. Section 11(2), where the contract was made by a trustee in excess of his powers or in breach of trust; section 14, listing contracts that cannot be specifically enforced; section 16, the personal bars including failure to prove readiness and willingness; section 17, where the vendor or lessor has no title or only an imperfect title; and section 18, under which the plaintiff cannot obtain performance except with a variation the defendant sets up in the three cases there listed.