Question

explain the rules regarding consideration as per contract act. what are the exceptions to the general rules?

Answer 1

Answer:

There are none, because consideration is an essential element of contract formation. If consideration doesn’t exist, at best there is a one-sided promise to do something; if the person making the promise changes his/her mind, there’s nothing the other party can do about it, as a promise alone isn’t enforceable.

Courts have however sometimes gotten very creative in finding things to be consideration that might not necessarily be thought to be such. And there is the concept of promissory estoppel: even if a contract hasn’t been formed because there is no consideration, a person who relies on another’s promise to the first person’s detriment may be able to recover.

For example, Jack says to Jill, “I promise to take you to Hawaii next month.” Jack is under no obligation to take Jill anywhere; it’s just a one-sided promise. The Jack changes his mind and cancels the trip. A court might try and find consideration in that Jill is implicitly agreeing to spend her time with Jack as his companion. But if the court did not consideration that to be consideration, Jill might still be able to recover on a promissory estoppel theory any monies she paid as a nonrefundable deposit to her cat sitter to reserve the time Jill thought she’d be away traveling.

Explanation: