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: Aisha, pretending to be a famous artist, sells a painting to Jaya. Jaya later discovers the truth. What is the status of the contract?
The contract is valid because Aisha didn't explicitly claim that she painted the painting.
The contract is void because there was a mistake as to the identity of the artist.
The contract is valid because Jaya should have verified the artist's identity.
The contract is void because Aisha deceived Jaya.
The contract is void because there was a mistake as to the identity of the artist. Here Aisha has posed as a famous painter and thus faked her identity. The buyer Jaya got influenced thinking that Aisha is a famous painter and was under a mistake thus the contract is void