X revokes his proposal to sell his house by a telegram. When is the revocation complete? (a) as against Y, and; (b) as against X

Question: X revokes his proposal to sell his house by a telegram. When is the revocation complete? (a) as against Y, and; (b) as against X. [DJS 2008]

Find the answer to the mains question only on Legal Bites. [X revokes his proposal to sell his house by a telegram. When is the revocation complete? (a) as against Y, and; (b) as against X]

Answer

The offeree is given the right to his/ her acceptance at any time before the communication of the acceptance is complete as against the acceptor, but not afterwards. To illustrate this point, the Act uses the following illustration-

B may revoke his acceptance at any time before or at the moment when the letter communicating it reaches A, but not afterwards.

Section 4 of the Indian Contract Act talks about when the communication of a revocation is complete:

• as against the person who makes it, when it is put into a course of transmission to the person to whom it is made, so as to be out of the power of the person who makes it;
• as against the person to whom it is made, when it comes to his knowledge

The facts of the present are borrowed from the illustration (c) appended to section 4. In this case, X revokes his proposal to sell his house by a telegram. So, communication of revocation is complete:

• as against X when the telegram is dispatched and is complete as against when Y receives it.
• Y revokes his acceptance by telegram. Y’s revocation is complete as against Y when the telegram is dispatched and as against X when it reaches him.

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Law of Contract Mains Questions Series: Important Questions for Judiciary, APO & University Exams

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