Question Paper Code A
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Legal Aptitude: The section contains 50 questions. Each question contains legal principles based on statutory enactments and facts related to the same. These propositions may not be the true ones. The student has to presume that it is true for reaching the conclusion to the given problem. Four answer choices are given in each question from which the student has to select the most appropriate and reasonable conclusion based on the given principle. The section is aimed to test one’s ability in legal aptitude, awareness of the law, research aptitude and problem-solving ability. It may be noted that the most reasonable conclusion may be absurd or unacceptable for any reason, yet the student must adhere to the principle given to arrive at the same in the question.
Question 112. Principle: An agreement with a boy below the age of eighteen years is not enforceable by law.
Facts: A man entered into an agreement with a girl of seventeen years of age.
(A) The agreement is enforceable by law.
(B) The agreement is not enforceable by law.
(C) The agreement is enforceable by the girl.
(D) No inference can be drawn.
Answer Detailed
We do know that a child is not liable for his actions. The age for being considered as a child is any age below 18 years. India has a law named the Indian Majority Act according to which the age of majority is 18 years. This is an essential age which is accepted as the legal age to do different transactions.
Indian Contract Act,1872 also specifies the age of majority. The Act says that every person should have the necessary capacity to enter into a contract. Section 11 of the Act says that every person is competent to contract if he is of the age of majority. Persons who are not the age of majority are called minors. A minor is considered to be incompetent to understand the obligations, duties, and liabilities arising out of a contract. Hence the Indian Contract Act considers all agreements with minors as void.
Here, in the above question, a man has entered into an agreement with a girl of seventeen years of age. The age of the girl is below 18 years which means that she is minor and not capable of entering into a valid contract. In other words, she cannot be made liable for any obligations or duties connected with the contract. Now we already know the answer. The agreement is not enforceable by law. But are we sure?! Let us see the answer choices.
B: The agreement is not enforceable by law.
B: The agreement is not enforceable by law.
We may start with choice B to get continuity of our discussion. As per our earlier notion, we may definitely choose our answer in option B. But this is not the correct one! If the agreement is made for the benefit of the child by his parent, it has a different footing in the eyes of law. Think of the situation when a person gave a cheque in favor of a minor. Here if the cheque bounces, it is not the minor child who is made liable. The person who gave the cheque will be made liable. The child will be eligible to get the amount specified in the cheque. Likewise, a property can also be transferred in favor of minors. So what we can infer is that all agreements with a minor child are not void. This forms as an exception to the general rule in the Indian Contract Act, 1872.
So if we look again at the question we may see that the man has entered into an agreement with a minor girl. It is not specified whether the agreement is for the benefit of the child or not. The nature of the contract is unclear from the fact given.
We cannot say that Option B which says the agreement is not enforceable by law for we do not know the nature of the contract. If it is an agreement in favor of the child as in the case of a cheque, or a property transfer in favour of the child for her benefit, she has all the eligibility and right to enforce the same through a guardian. Since the nature of the contract is not known Option B also cannot be our answer.
A: The agreement is enforceable by law
Since the nature of the contract is not clear we cannot say Option A as the answer for if we select that as our answer we are supposed to know the nature of the contract and the obligations connected therewith on the parties.
C: The agreement is enforceable by the girl.
For the same reasons as stated above, we cannot choose Option C as our answer.
Hence we can safely choose that Answer option D is correct.
D: No inference can be drawn.
So our most reasonable and appropriate answer should be Option D which says that “no inference can be drawn”.
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Hence we can safely choose that Answer option D is correct.
D: No inference can be drawn.
So our most reasonable and appropriate answer should be Option D which says that “no inference can be drawn”.
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Disclaimer: The content of this post is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances. To know our detailed Disclaimer, go to this link. You may also enlighten us with corrections and suggestions through our contact form or through comments.
Sharing is Caring. Please share the content. This will inspire us to post more scholarly content in this blog.
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