Foundations of Indian Contract Law

Abstract Foundations of Indian Contract Law is an authoritative, critical commentary on Indian contract law. It comprises 24 chapters that examine the historical, philosophical, and comparative foundations of the Indian Contract Act 1872, the central doctrines and concepts of Indian contract law, the law relating to certain specific types of contracts, and a concluding chapter by Professor Hugh Beale. The book features contributions from 32 academics and practitioners from around the world. The authors adhere to a methodology that is carefully calibrated to address the shortcomings in traditional Indian contract law scholarship. The primary presuppositions of this methodology are that: (a) the answers to many difficult questions of Indian contract law are to be found in the history of the Contract Act; and (b) while it is difficult to understand the Contract Act other than against the backdrop of the common law, one should not assume that on all difficult points Indian contract law mirrors the common law. Each chapter pays close attention to the legislative history of the relevant provision(s) of the Contract Act. None aims to survey every single Indian case in the area. The result is an overview of the foundational concepts, derived from an analysis of what the legislator set out to achieve and the leading (but not all) authorities. The book aims to influence the Indian courts’ approach to contract law, inform meaningful legislative reform and, more broadly, catalyse a culture of critical scholarship on Indian private law.