A Historical Introduction to Indian Contract Law

This book offers a genealogy of the core concepts of Indian contract law, tracing their trajectory from the nineteenth century soil of English jurisprudence in which they germinated, to their transplantation into the Indian Contract Act 1872, and the interpretation of the provisions containing these concepts by Indian courts and influential treatise-writers, over the last one hundred and fifty years.

The concepts studied by the book are: i) formation; ii) consideration; iii) privity; iv) capacity; v) consent; vi) frustration; vii) damages viii) stipulated sums; and ix) unjustified enrichment. With respect to each of these concepts, the book seeks to provide an account of the state of the English law at the eve of the drafting of the Act, with a particular emphasis on the impact the civil law had on the concept and a close study of the legislative history of the provisions of the Act codifying the concept, with a view to uncovering what the drafters had originally envisaged.

Based on extensive doctrinal and archival research, the book offers:

  • a historical background to the drafting of the Indian Contract Act and the codification process.
  • a jurisprudential exploration of the limitations of common law codification gleaned from the working of the Act.
  • the draft of the contract code accompanying the report of the Indian Law Commissioners in 1866, which is essential to understand the intention of the drafters of the Act.
  • historical insights which hold the key to illuminating contemporary contract law problems of the kind courts routinely grapple with.
1147193559
A Historical Introduction to Indian Contract Law

This book offers a genealogy of the core concepts of Indian contract law, tracing their trajectory from the nineteenth century soil of English jurisprudence in which they germinated, to their transplantation into the Indian Contract Act 1872, and the interpretation of the provisions containing these concepts by Indian courts and influential treatise-writers, over the last one hundred and fifty years.

The concepts studied by the book are: i) formation; ii) consideration; iii) privity; iv) capacity; v) consent; vi) frustration; vii) damages viii) stipulated sums; and ix) unjustified enrichment. With respect to each of these concepts, the book seeks to provide an account of the state of the English law at the eve of the drafting of the Act, with a particular emphasis on the impact the civil law had on the concept and a close study of the legislative history of the provisions of the Act codifying the concept, with a view to uncovering what the drafters had originally envisaged.

Based on extensive doctrinal and archival research, the book offers:

  • a historical background to the drafting of the Indian Contract Act and the codification process.
  • a jurisprudential exploration of the limitations of common law codification gleaned from the working of the Act.
  • the draft of the contract code accompanying the report of the Indian Law Commissioners in 1866, which is essential to understand the intention of the drafters of the Act.
  • historical insights which hold the key to illuminating contemporary contract law problems of the kind courts routinely grapple with.
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A Historical Introduction to Indian Contract Law

A Historical Introduction to Indian Contract Law

by Shivprasad Swaminathan
A Historical Introduction to Indian Contract Law

A Historical Introduction to Indian Contract Law

by Shivprasad Swaminathan

eBook

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Overview

This book offers a genealogy of the core concepts of Indian contract law, tracing their trajectory from the nineteenth century soil of English jurisprudence in which they germinated, to their transplantation into the Indian Contract Act 1872, and the interpretation of the provisions containing these concepts by Indian courts and influential treatise-writers, over the last one hundred and fifty years.

The concepts studied by the book are: i) formation; ii) consideration; iii) privity; iv) capacity; v) consent; vi) frustration; vii) damages viii) stipulated sums; and ix) unjustified enrichment. With respect to each of these concepts, the book seeks to provide an account of the state of the English law at the eve of the drafting of the Act, with a particular emphasis on the impact the civil law had on the concept and a close study of the legislative history of the provisions of the Act codifying the concept, with a view to uncovering what the drafters had originally envisaged.

Based on extensive doctrinal and archival research, the book offers:

  • a historical background to the drafting of the Indian Contract Act and the codification process.
  • a jurisprudential exploration of the limitations of common law codification gleaned from the working of the Act.
  • the draft of the contract code accompanying the report of the Indian Law Commissioners in 1866, which is essential to understand the intention of the drafters of the Act.
  • historical insights which hold the key to illuminating contemporary contract law problems of the kind courts routinely grapple with.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781040413609
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Publication date: 08/22/2025
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
Pages: 228

About the Author

Shivprasad Swaminathan is Professor and Dean at the Shiv Nadar School of Law, Shiv Nadar University, Chennai. He got his undergraduate degree from Indian Law Society, Pune before going on to read for the BCL and D. Phil at Oxford University, where he was a Clarendon Scholar. He is the co-editor of Foundations of Indian Contract; and his work has been published in leading journals including Cambridge Law Journal, Modern Law Review, Legal Theory and Oxford Journal of Legal Studies.

Table of Contents

Table of cases. Preface. Acknowledgements. 1. Historical background to the Indian contract act 2. Formation 3. Consideration 4. Privity 5. Capacity 6. Consent 7. Frustration 8. Damages and stipulated sums 9. Unjustified enrichment 10. Thrills and perils of common law codification Appendix: Report of the Indian law commissioners on the subject of contract law along with the draft contract code (1866). References. Index.

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