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Read the given passage very carefully and answer the questions.

Mistakes may operate upon a contract in two ways. It may, firstly, defeat the consent altogether that the parties are supposed to have given; that is to say, the consent is unreal. Secondly, the mistake may mislead the parties about the purpose they contemplated. Where both parties are under a mistake as to a matter of fact essential to the agreement, the agreement is void. However, an erroneous opinion as to the value of the things which form the subject –matter of the agreement is not deemed a mistake as a matter of fact. An agreement upon the same thing in the same sense is known as true consent or consensus ad idem, and it is the root of every contract. Two or more people are told to consent when they agree upon the same thing in the same sense.

A contract is said to be void because of a mistake when:

•  Both the parties to an agreement are mistaken,

•  Their mistake is, as a matter of fact, and

•  The fact about which they are mistaken is essential to the agreement.

A contract is not void because it was caused by a mistake as to any law in force in India, but a mistake as to a law not in force in India has the same effect as a mistake of fact.A mistake as to identity occurs when one of the parties represents himself to be some person other than he really is. There can be a mistake of identity only when a person bearing a particular identity exists within the plaintiff's knowledge, and the plaintiff intends to deal with him only. If the name the accused assumes is fictitious, there will be no mistake of identity.

Question: Posing as his twin brother, Ram, Jay entered into a contract with a company that intended to contract specifically with Tim. Is the contract valid?

 

Option: 1

the contract is valid because Jay and Ram are identical twins.


Option: 2

No, the contract is invalid because there was a mistake regarding the identity of the person the company intended to contract with.

 


Option: 3

Yes, the contract is valid because the company should have verified the identity before making the contract.

 


Option: 4

No, the contract is invalid because Ram and Jay committed fraud.

 


Answers (1)

best_answer

No, the contract is invalid because there was a mistake regarding the identity of the person the company intended to contract with. As stated in the passage "A mistake as to identity occurs when one of the parties represents himself to be some person other than he really is." Here Ram's twin brother is faking up another identity and others are under the mistake of fact thus the contract is void.

 

Posted by

Suraj Bhandari

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