coercion
Section 15 of the Indian Contract Act defines coercion as committing or threatening to commit any act forbidden by the Indian Penal Code (now the BNS), or unlawfully detaining or threatening to detain property, with the intention of causing any person to enter into an agreement. It does not matter whether the penal law is in force where the coercion takes place.
Consent caused by coercion makes the contract voidable at the option of the party coerced (s.19). Indian coercion is wider than English duress: it may be by anyone, against anyone, and covers property. Money paid or goods delivered under coercion must be returned (s.72). A threat to commit suicide has been held to be coercion.
Example
The release deed is voidable for coercion under sections 15 and 19, since the husband obtained it by threatening to kill himself.
In Indian law
- Sections 15, 19 and 72, Indian Contract Act, 1872
- Chikham Amiraju v. Chikham Seshamma (Madras High Court, 1917): threat of suicide is coercion
See also
free consent · undue influence · voidable contract · fraud
Read more in the study notes
- Need for ADR, international commitments and suitability of disputes (Alternative Dispute Resolution Systems)
- Phases of negotiation, qualities of a negotiator and power to negotiate (Alternative Dispute Resolution Systems)
- Stages of mediation, models of mediation and code of conduct for mediators (Alternative Dispute Resolution Systems)
- Abetment of suicide, organised crime and terrorist act (Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita)
- Kidnapping, abduction, slavery and forced labour (Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita)
- Confessions: meaning, forms, voluntariness and confessions to the police (Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam)