Discharge of contract (ss. 62-63) and impossibility and frustration (s. 56): the modes of discharge, novation, remission, the doctrine of frustration and its effects
LUG-103 Law of Contract including Specific Relief Act & Sale of Goods Act, Unit II: Discharge of contracts. · LLB · 60 min
A contract is discharged when the obligations it created come to an end. This lecture covers topics 4 and 7 of the unit: the six modes of discharge, with the two "discharge by agreement" sections - novation, rescission and alteration (s. 62, Scarf v. Jardine) and remission, waiver and accord and satisfaction (s. 63) - and then the doctrine of frustration under s. 56, from Taylor v. Caldwell and the coronation cases through Satyabrata Ghose's rule of positive law to the grounds, the limits (Davis Contractors, Naihati Jute Mills) and the effects under s. 65. Nine past-paper questions, including the 2017-18 music-hall problem, fall on this ground.
Objectives
- List the modes of discharge of a contract and explain discharge by agreement under ss. 62 and 63.
- Distinguish novation, rescission, alteration, remission, waiver and accord and satisfaction, and contrast s. 63 with the English rule in Pinnel's case.
- State the three paragraphs of s. 56 and distinguish initial from supervening impossibility.
- Explain the English doctrine of frustration and the Indian position that s. 56 is a rule of positive law (Satyabrata Ghose).
- Identify the grounds of frustration and the situations that do not frustrate a contract, and apply s. 65 to the consequences.
Slides
- The modes of discharge
- Discharge by agreement I: novation, rescission, alteration (s. 62)
- Novation v alteration; discharge by agreement II: remission, waiver, accord and satisfaction (s. 63)
- Section 56: the text and its illustrations
- The English doctrine: from Paradine v. Jane to Davis Contractors
- The Indian position: s. 56 as a rule of positive law (Satyabrata Ghose)
- Grounds of impossibility of performance
- What is not frustration
- Effects of frustration: s. 56, s. 65 and the English contrast
- Worked problem: the music hall destroyed by fire (2017-18 Q B3)
- How the examiner asks it
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