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Acceptance and Revocation

The document outlines the legal principles of acceptance and revocation in contract law, emphasizing that acceptance must be communicated to the offeror and must be absolute and unqualified. It details the completion of communication for both acceptance and revocation, highlighting that acceptance is complete when sent by the acceptor and received by the proposer, while revocation is complete when sent by the revoker and known by the other party. Additionally, it explains the conditions under which proposals and acceptances can be revoked.

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24 views

Acceptance and Revocation

The document outlines the legal principles of acceptance and revocation in contract law, emphasizing that acceptance must be communicated to the offeror and must be absolute and unqualified. It details the completion of communication for both acceptance and revocation, highlighting that acceptance is complete when sent by the acceptor and received by the proposer, while revocation is complete when sent by the revoker and known by the other party. Additionally, it explains the conditions under which proposals and acceptances can be revoked.

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© © All Rights Reserved
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Acceptance, Revocation and

its Communication
- Shriya Babar
Acceptance
● S. 2(b) defines ‘Acceptance’: When the person to whom the proposal
is made signifies his assent thereto, the proposal is said to be
accepted. A proposal, when accepted, becomes a promise.
● Acc. to the definition, it is necessary that the assent should be
signified.
● From this, it is clear that the person accepting a proposal must
communicate his acceptance (expressly or impliedly).
● Case of Brogden vs Metropolitan Railway Co., 1877.
Communication of the Acceptance.
● Communication must be done to the Offeror himself: Law -
Felthouse vs Bindley)
● Communication must be done by the acceptor himself. (Case law -
Powell vs Lee, 1908)
● An offer cannot impose burden of Refusal: An offeror cannot say
that if no answer is received within a certain time, the offer would be
deemed to be accepted.
● Acceptance should be sent in the manner prescribed. If the
acceptance is given in any other manner, it may not be effective.
(Case Law - Eliasan vs Henshaw)
● Counter Proposals will not be considered as acceptance.
● Acceptance must be absolute.—In order to convert a proposal into
a promise, the acceptance must—

(1) be absolute and unqualified;

(2) be expressed in some usual and reasonable manner, unless the


proposal prescribes the manner in which it is to be accepted. If the
proposal prescribes a manner in which it is to be accepted, and the
acceptance is not made in such manner, the proposer may, within a
reasonable time after the acceptance is communicated to him,
insist that his proposal shall be accepted in the prescribed manner,
and not otherwise; but if he fails to do so, he accepts the
acceptance.
Communication, when complete
● Sec. 4 deals with communication of an offer, acceptance or
revocation.
● Proposal: When someone makes an offer, the communication is
complete when the person receiving the offer knows about it. Eg. Alice
wants to sell her bike to Bob. She sends him a message saying, "I offer
to sell my bike for 20,000 rupees." The communication of the proposal
is complete when B reads A's message.
● Acceptance:
1. For the person who made the offer (proposer): The acceptance is
complete once the person accepting (acceptor) has sent the
acceptance in a way that can't be undone (e.g., by mailing it).
2. For the person accepting (acceptor): The acceptance is complete
when the proposer receives and knows about the acceptance.
1. Eg. In the above illustration, For Alice, the communication of
acceptance is complete when Bob writes back, "I accept your offer,"
and sends the message. Once Bob presses "send," his acceptance is
out of his control, and Alice will receive it soon. At this point, the
acceptance is considered complete for Alice because it's on its way.
2. Whereas for Bob, The acceptance is only complete for Bob when
Alice actually reads his message and knows about the acceptance.
● Revocation (canceling an offer or acceptance):
● For the person revoking: The revocation is complete when it’s sent in
a way that can’t be undone (e.g., mailed).
● For the person receiving the revocation: It’s complete when they
actually know about it.
● For the person revoking (Alice):

Example: Alice changes her mind and sends another message to Bob
saying, "I withdraw my offer."

Once Alice sends the message, the revocation is out of her control, so
it’s complete for Alice.

● For the person receiving the revocation (Bob):

The revocation is only complete for Bob when he reads Alice's message
and knows that she has withdrawn the offer.
Sec. 6 - Revocation how made
● Revocation how made.—A proposal is revoked—

(1) by the communication of notice of revocation by the proposer to the


other party;

(2) by the lapse of the time prescribed in such proposal for its
acceptance, or, if no time is so prescribed, by the lapse of a reasonable
time, without communication of the acceptance;

(3) by the failure of the acceptor to fulfil a condition precedent to


acceptance; or

(4) by the death or insanity of the proposer, if the fact of his death or
insanity comes to the knowledge of the acceptor before acceptance.
Sec. 5 - Revocation of proposal and acceptance
● Revocation of proposals and acceptances.—
● A proposal may be revoked at any time before the communication
of its acceptance is complete as against the proposer, but not
afterwards. (So a proposal can be revoked anytime before the
acceptance is set in motion by the acceptor)
● An acceptance may be revoked at any time before the
communication of the acceptance is complete as against the
acceptor, but not afterwards. (So an acceptance can be revoked
anytime before the acceptance reaches the proposer)
● Eg. A offers to sell his house to B for 50 lakhs. B hasn’t accepted the
offer yet. A can revoke the offer anytime before B’s acceptance is set
in motion.
● Similarly, If B accepted the offer and sent his acceptance via mail, B
can revoke the acceptance in a way faster than mail and before the
mail reaches A.

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