What is an agreement

Contracts form a major part of the civil law branch and as such one of the first branches of civil law to be codified in India. By definition a contract means a combination of a promise to do/ not do certain things in exchange for something that is promised in return. The act of 1872 aims at codifying whereas aspects of this vital branch of transaction sector. It does not cover the entire scope of this subject and as such any contract not done within the ambit of this code is still considered a valid contract if it does not clash with any of the provisions of this code. Even the constitution of this nation cannot validate any contract which is contrary to the provisions of this act. An agreement is considered a contract only if it is consistent with the provisions of this act.

An agreement is initiated when some one makes a proposal to do or not to do a thing. It should set out the terms and conditions which the promisor wishes the future promisee to abide by. It is considered as a valid offer only when it is conveyed to the person for whom it is intended. It should also clarify what he wants in return i.e the consideration. That is why a tender notice is not considered an offer. Once the offer is accepted in its original form ( any altering is considered a fresh proposal) the promisee does a reciprocal promise which is called a consideration. An agreement my be there even without a consideration but it does not amount to a contract ( exception will be dealt with in a separate post). Once the promisee puts his acceptance it is an agreement from his side and as soon as it reaches the promisor it becomes an agreement from his side. If the whole communication is based solely on correspondence then it becomes an agreement as soon as the promisee starts transmission from his side. Even if no such correspondence takes place but any of the party acts in a way that shows it's acceptance of the terms and conditions of the other party, it is considered an agreement sub silentio.

If any of the parties decides to back out from the contract they can do so before the offer or its acceptance is communicated to the other party. Lapse of the time prescribed as per the communication or lapse of reasonable time also automatically revokes the agreement.Not communicating in the usual manner or failure to communicate in the prescribed manner also makes the agreement null only if the other party doesn't accept it. Once a proposal is accepted then these grounds don't hold.