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Section 36: Agreement contingent on impossible events, void

Indian Contract Act • Official Statutory Text & Practice Guide

Statutory Regulation
Legal Standard
Competent Court / Tribunal
Act 1872
Section 35 All 266 Sections of Indian Contract Act Section 37

Legal Commentary & Landmark Judgments: Section 36

Section 36 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872 renders void ab initio any contingent agreement to do or not to do anything if an impossible event happens, irrespective of whether the impossibility of the event was known or unknown to the contracting parties at the time of execution.

  • Inherent Initial Impossibility of Contingency: The contingency upon which the agreement is conditioned is physically, naturally, or legally impossible from the moment of agreement execution.
  • Irrelevance of Parties' Subjective State of Mind: The agreement is void as a matter of law whether the contracting parties were fully aware of the impossibility or operated under an innocent mutual mistake of fact.
  • Demarcation from Doctrine of Frustration (Sec 56): Section 36 applies strictly to initial impossibility of a condition precedent, producing voidness ab initio, whereas Section 56 governs supervening impossibility that strikes a contract validly formed.
Key Landmark Precedents:
  • Satyabrata Ghose v. Mugneeram Bangur & Co. 1954 SCR 310 / AIR 1954 SC 44: The Supreme Court noted that Section 36 operates on initial impossibility of contingencies, demarcating agreements void at inception from valid contracts discharged by supervening impossibility under Section 56.
  • State of Rajasthan v. Associated Stone Industries (Kotah) Ltd. (1985) 1 SCC 575: Reaffirmed that where the contractual substratum is predicated upon an event that could never occur under the legal framework, the agreement is void ab initio under Section 36, precluding claims for damages.
Courtroom Practice & Strategic Litigation Guidance:

When defending against claims based on speculative or legally barred contingent promises, raise Section 36 in a preliminary application under Order VII Rule 11 CPC. Establish through documentary evidence that the underlying condition was objectively impossible at inception, extinguishing all contractual claims without liability for damages.

Section 35 All 266 Sections of Indian Contract Act Section 37