Privity of contract: the rule, privity of contract v privity of consideration, the Indian position and the exceptions
LUG-103 Law of Contract including Specific Relief Act & Sale of Goods Act, Unit I: Privity of contract. · LLB · 60 min
This lecture covers topic 15 of Unit I. It states the rule that a stranger to a contract can neither sue nor be sued (Tweddle v. Atkinson, Dunlop v. Selfridge), separates privity of contract from privity of consideration, shows that the Indian Act keeps the former while abandoning the latter (Jamna Das v. Ram Autar, M.C. Chacko v. State Bank of Travancore), and works through the exceptions: trust or charge in favour of a beneficiary (Khwaja Muhammad Khan v. Husaini Begum), family arrangements and marriage settlements, acknowledgement or estoppel, agency, assignment and covenants running with land. It ends with Beswick v. Beswick and the English statutory reform of 1999.
Objectives
- State the doctrine of privity of contract and its two limbs with the leading English cases
- Distinguish privity of contract from privity of consideration and explain which Indian law retains
- Explain the Indian position through Jamna Das v. Ram Autar and M.C. Chacko v. State Bank of Travancore
- Apply the exceptions to the rule, especially the trust or charge exception in Khwaja Muhammad Khan v. Husaini Begum
- Describe Beswick v. Beswick and the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 as the English reform
Slides
- The rule: a stranger to a contract can neither sue nor be sued
- Tweddle v. Atkinson and Dunlop v. Selfridge: the English rule
- Privity of contract v privity of consideration: what India keeps
- The Indian position: Jamna Das v. Ram Autar and M.C. Chacko
- Exception 1: beneficiary under a trust or charge - Khwaja Muhammad Khan v. Husaini Begum (2022-23 Q2(e))
- Exceptions 2 and 3: family arrangements and marriage settlements; acknowledgement and estoppel
- Exceptions 4 to 7: agency, assignment, covenants running with land, statute
- Beswick v. Beswick and the English reform
- How the examiner asks it
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