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Mod 1
Mod 1
MODULE-1
The objective of entering into a contract of indemnity is to protect the promisee against
unanticipated losses.
The promisor or indemnifier: He is the person who promises to bear the loss.
As per Section 125 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872 the following rights are available to
the promisee/ the indemnified/ indemnity-holder against the promisor/ indemnifier,
provided he has acted within the scope of his authority.
A contract of life insurance, for instance, may provide the payment of a certain
sum of money either on the death on a person or on the expiry of a stipulated
period of time (even if the assured is still alive) Indian Contract Act does not
specifically provide that there can be on implied contract of indemnity.
Commencement of Liability of Promisor/ Indemnifier
Indian Contract Act, 1872 does not provide the time of the commencement of
the indemnifier’s liability under the contract of indemnity. But different
High Courts in India have held the following rules in this regard:
Indemnifier is not liable until the indemnified has suffered the loss.
Indemnified can compel the indemnifier to make good his loss although he has
not discharged his liability
Contract of Guarantee1
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2. Principal Debtor, in respect of whose default the guarantee
is given.
All the three parties namely, the principal debtor, the creditor
and the surety must agree to make such a contract.
2. Liability
3. Existence of a Debt
4. Consideration(chinnaya vs Ramaya)
Anything done, or any promise made, for the benefit of the principal
debtor may be sufficient consideration to the surety for giving the
guarantee
7. No Concealment of Facts
The creditor should disclose to the surety the facts that are
likely to affect the surety’s liability. The guarantee obtained by
the concealment of such facts is invalid. Thus, the guarantee is
invalid if the creditor obtains it by the concealment of material
facts.
8. No Misrepresentation
The contract of indemnity can be oral or in In India it can be oral or in writing but in
writing both in India as well as in UK. UK it has to be in writing
In contract of indemnity there are two In contract of guarantee there are three
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parties indemnifier and the indemnity parties i.e. creditor, the principal debtor
holder. and surety.
Principal debt
subrogation
Rights of a Surety3
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Also, when the creditor losses or parts with such security without the
consent of the surety, this discharges the surety to the extent of the
value of such security.
In a case where the principal debtor on discovering that the debt has
become due, starts disposing of his properties in order to prevent
seizure by the surety, the surety can compel the debtor to pay the debt
and discharge him from his liability to pay.
When a surety pays more than his share to the creditor, he has a right
of contribution from the co-sureties, who are equally liable to pay.
For example, Anthony, Barkha, and Chaya are the co-sureties to
David for a sum of ₹30000 lent to Erwin who made default in
payment. Thus, Anthony, Barkha, and Chaya are liable to pay
₹10000 each as between them. So, in this case, if anyone of them
pays more than ₹10000, he can claim the excess from the other two
co-sureties so as to reduce his payment to ₹10000 only. However, if
one of the co-sureties becomes insolvent, the other co-sureties shall
contribute his share equally.
Kinds of Guarantees
Contract of Bailment
Meaning of bailment :
The term bailment is derived from French word 'bailor' which means
to deliver. Bailment is a delivery of goods on condition that the
receipent shall ultimately restore them to the Bailor or dispose of
them according to the direction of the Bailee or dispose of them
according to the direction of the Bailor.
Section 148 defines ‘Bailment’ as “the delivery of goods by one
person to another for some purpose, upon a contract that they shall,
when the purpose is accomplished be returned or otherwise
disposed off according to the directions of the person delivering
them”.
Contract
“implied.”
Example: A gives his car to B for repair, here A is the Bailor and the B is
Delivery of possession
no [bailment].
Purpose
another person. The goods should be transferred by the Bailor to the Bailee
Return of goods
condition that it will be returned back to the Bailor after the fulfilment of the
purpose of the bailment. However, the goods can be returned back to the
Bailor in its original form or in altered form as the contract may be.
Types of bailment
There are mainly 3 types of bailment under the act, which are as follow:
The bailment whereby contracting the bailment, both the person ie Bailor
Example: the best example for this when a Bailor parks his car in the paid
parking of Bailee. The Bailor will get the benefit to park his car and the
Where the bailment gives benefit to the Bailor only is cover under this.
Example: Free parking of the car of Bailor in the free parking lot of bailee.
[bailment] which on gives the benefit to the Bailee only is comes under this.
Example: the best example of this is to read the books in the common
library; here you are the Bailee and the owner of the library is Bailor. You
can read the book free of cost and gain knowledge for yourself, you will get
Termination of bailment6
There are various situations when the [bailment] can be ended which
are:
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1. On the expiry of the term of bailment: where it is already specified
the [bailment]will be terminated.
5. On the inconsistent act: if either of the party failed to comply with the
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According to section 151, it is the duty of a bailee to take care of
goods bailed to him. Bailee should take care of these goods as an
ordinary man will take care of his goods of the same value, quality,
and quantity.
Thus, if the bailee takes due care of goods then he will not be liable
for any loss, deterioration of such goods. Also, the bailee needs to
take the same degree of care of goods whether the bailment is for
reward or gratuitous.
However, the bailee is not liable for any loss due to the happening of
any act by God or public enemies though he agrees to take special
care of the goods.
A was admitted to hospital and her jewellery was removed by the hospital staff
and from their custody it was stolen. Hospital was held responsible
Ultzen vs Nicole
A entered in to the restaurant his coat was removed by the staff member and it
was hung on the back side of the chair of A. when A rose to leave the restaurant
he found his coat missing. Restaurant was held liable.
As per section 153, the Bailee shall not make any unauthorized use of
goods bailed. In case he makes any unauthorized use, then bailor can
terminate the bailment.
The duty of the bailee is to return the goods without demand on the
accomplishment of the purpose or the expiration of the time period.
In case of his failure to do so, he shall be liable for the loss,
destruction, deterioration, damages or destruction of goods even
without negligence.
A bailee shall return the goods along with any increase or profit
accruing to the goods to the bailor, in the absence of any contract to
the contrary.
Also, the bailor is under the duty to pay the extraordinary expenses
incurred by the bailee for such bailment.
It is the duty of the bailor to accept the goods after the purpose for
which such goods were bailed is accomplished.
It is the duty of the bailor to indemnify the bailee for the cost
incurred due to the defective title of goods bailed to the bailee.
A gave his old bicycle to B for three months. B spent Rs 600 on its
repair and then a after 15 days A demanded his bicycle back. Now A
must compensate B for the money B has spent on its repair.
Rights of Bailee:
The bailee has right to know material faults in goods. According to
the bailee faults in the goods bailed, of which the bailor is aware and
which materially interfere with the use of them or expose the bailee to
responsible for damage arising to the bailee directly from such faults.
disclose the fact that the horse is vicious. The horse runs away. B is
The bailee has right to claim expenses of bailment Section 158
expenses of bailment.
The Bailee has right to claim lien for remuneration.The term 'Lien'
another until the possessor's claims against the owner have been
satisfied.
Who is the finder of Goods?
Any person who finds the goods belonging to another person
and takes the goods in his custody is the finder of goods.
The rights of the finder of goods are the same as that of the
bailee. These are discussed in detail below:
1. Right of lien
Section 151 of the Indian Contract Act lays down that the
bailee is required to take reasonable care of the goods as he
would have taken the care of goods under similar
circumstances. Thus, the finder of goods is required to take
reasonable care of goods as he would have taken of his
goods.
Section 152 of the Act lays down that if there was not a
special contract to the contrary then the bailee can not be
made liable for the loss, destruction or deterioration of the
goods provided that he has taken the due care of the goods.
Burden of Proof
The finder of goods is bound not to mix the goods with his
goods. If the goods are mixed with the consent of the owner
then both the owner and the finder will have a proportional
share in the mixture thus produced. [2] If the goods mixed are
of such a nature that they can be separated from the goods
of the finder then the finder of goods will be liable to pay any
such amount which is incurred for the separation of goods.
[3]
However, if the goods mixed are of such a nature that they
can not be separated from the goods of the finder then the
finder of the goods is required to compensate the owner of
the goods for the loss of goods.[4]
The finder of the goods has to return the goods to the owner
of the goods.[5] He is bound to return the goods but can
exercise his right of lien if he is not paid the lawful charges.
Thus, if A has found the cow belonging to X, and the cow has
a calf. Here, A is bound to return the cow along with the calf.
A will not become the owner of the calf.
From the definition of the term pledge in the given section, it is clear that
pledge is also a type of bailment due to the fact that a contract of pledge to
come into existence, delivery of goods is requisite. A pledge can also be
defined as , Pledge is the transfer by one person to another of the possession
of certain goods to be held by the latter as security for the performance by the
former of some obligation to pay or perform, which being performed, the
pledge must be restored. The Supreme Court has defined pledge as , Pawn or
pledge is a bailment of personal property as a security for some debt or
engagement. A pawnor is one who being liable to an engagement gives to the
person to whom he is liable a thing to be held as security for payment of his
debt or the fulfilment of his liability.
1. Right to retain- until and unless the loan has been repaid or the
obligation has been performed, the pawnee has the right to retain
the goods. This is illustrated in section 173 of the Indian Contract Act
1872,
This includes the expenses which the pledgee has incurred by virtue
of preserving the goods under his possession by way of pledge. The
pertinent thing to note here is the usage of the word receive which
states the position that the pledgee cannot retain the goods for the
extraordinary expenses. In other words it can be said that his lien
over the pledged goods does not extend to cover the rights of
extraordinary expenses. Thus what the pledgee has is the right of
action for recovering these expenses.[17]
Rights of Pawnor