Breach of contract and remedies (ss. 39, 64, 73-75): actual and anticipatory breach, damages and remoteness, liquidated damages and penalty, quantum meruit
LUG-103 Law of Contract including Specific Relief Act & Sale of Goods Act, Unit II: Breach — anticipatory and present. · LLB · 60 min
The last lecture of Unit II takes breach - actual and anticipatory (s. 39, Hochster v. De la Tour, Frost v. Knight) - and the remedies that follow it: rescission with compensation (ss. 64, 75), damages under s. 73 (Hadley v. Baxendale and its two limbs, Victoria Laundry, the measure of damages and mitigation in Murlidhar Chiranjilal, the kinds of damages), the Indian law of liquidated damages and penalty under s. 74 (Fateh Chand, Maula Bux, ONGC v. Saw Pipes), quantum meruit, and specific performance and injunction in outline for Unit IV. Anticipatory breach was asked in 2024-25 and 2025-26; special damages in 2018-19.
Objectives
- Distinguish actual from anticipatory breach and state the promisee's options under s. 39 and the English cases.
- Explain the two limbs of s. 73 through Hadley v. Baxendale and Victoria Laundry, and the rule against remote loss.
- Apply the measure of damages and the duty to mitigate (Murlidhar Chiranjilal) and classify damages as ordinary, special, nominal, exemplary and liquidated.
- Explain how s. 74 replaces the English distinction between liquidated damages and penalty, with Fateh Chand, Maula Bux and Saw Pipes.
- Describe quantum meruit, rescission under ss. 64 and 75, and the outline of specific performance and injunction.
Slides
- Breach of contract: actual and anticipatory; s. 39
- Anticipatory breach: Hochster v. De la Tour and Frost v. Knight
- The remedies for breach: an overview
- Damages: s. 73 and the rule in Hadley v. Baxendale
- Remoteness refined: Victoria Laundry, the Heron II, and the Act's illustrations
- Measure of damages, mitigation and the kinds of damages
- Liquidated damages and penalty: s. 74 and the English contrast
- Section 74 in the Supreme Court: Fateh Chand, Maula Bux, Saw Pipes
- Quantum meruit
- Specific performance and injunction in outline
- How the examiner asks it
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