Nama

Saidatul, Aqilah Johari,Aqilah Mokhtar, Alisya

33.Syed Abu , a Malay of Arab descendant is a professional conman. One day, he

impersonates as Sheikul Hassan Al Juneed, an Oil-Sheikh from Saudi Arabia who wants to buy
1000 acres of land in Malaysia. Datuk Khalil, a very prominent Malaysian businessman believed
in him and had signed a contract to sell 1000 acres of land belong to him to Syed Abu. One
week later Datuk Khalil realizes that Sheikul Hassan Al Juneed was never exist and that he was
cheated by Syed Abu into signing the agreement. Datuk Khalil asked for your legal advise.

Issue

Whether there was a valid contract between Datuk Khalil and Syed Abu or not ?

Theories of Law
Section 10 of the Contract Act 1950 states that all agreements are contracts if they are made by
free consent of parties competent to contract, for a lawful consideration and with a lawful object,
and are not hereby expressly declared to be void.

Section 14 of the Contract Act 1950 states consent is said to be free when it is not caused by
coercion, as defined in section 15, undue influence, as defined in section 16. While fraud as
defined in section 17, misrepresentation as defined in section 18 or mistake subject to sections
21,22 and 23.

Effect of Void and Voidable Contract

Void contract
An agreement which is Void has no legal effect from beginning
Voidable contract
When consent to an agreement is caused by coercion,fraud, misrepresentation,and undue
influence,the agreement is Voidable at the option of the party whose consent was caused.

Section 17 of the contract Act 1950 states that Fraud includes any of the following acts
committed by a party to a contract, or with intent to deceive another party thereto or his agent,
or to induce him to enter into the contract.

The relevant case is Weber V Brown.

The plaintiff sued the defendant for damages in respect of an alleged false and fraudulent
misrepresentation relating to the number of rubber trees on an estate which he purchased. The
number of tree represent was more than that which actually existed on the estate.It was held
that the defendant had made the alleged misrepresentation falsely and fraudulently.
Application
● By applying Section 19 of the Contract Act 1950. When consent to an agreement is
caused by coercion, fraud, or misrepresentation, the agreement is a contract voidable at
the option of the party whose consent was so caused. As known, Datuk Khalil has sold
1000 acres of land to Sheikh Hassan Al Juneed, who is not the real owner. and actually,
Datuk khalil had signed a fake document about the agreement. So here this agreement
has breached the contract because the contract made is invalid.

● By applying section 17 of the contract act 1950, Datuk Khalil was deceived by Syed Abu
who disguised himself as Sheikhul Hassan Al Juneed who wanted to sell 1000 acres of
land to the fraud man but Datuk Khalil did not know that Sheikhul Hassan Al Juneed did
not exist.
● The decision in case Weber v Brown can be related with this problem as both of it
happened when there is existing alleged misrepresentation falsely and fraudulently.

Conclusion
● There is no valid contract between Sheikul Hassan Al Juneed and Datuk Khalil
● Yes, Datuk Khalil can take action towards Syed Abu