The position of minors in contracts is summed up as follows:
1.A contract with or by a minor is void and a minor, therefore, cannot, bind himself by a contract. A minor is not competent to contract. In English Law, a Minor in contract, subject to certain exceptions, is only voidable at the option of the minor.In 1903 the Privy Council in the leading case of Mohiri Bibi v. Dharmodas Ghose (190, 30 Ca. 539).Held : That in India minors contracts are absolutely void and not merely voidable. The facts of the case were:Example
Dharmodas Ghose , a minor, entered into a contract for borrowing a sum of Rs. 20,000 out of which the lender paid the minor a sum of Rs. 8,000. The minor executed mortgage of property in favour of the lender.Subsequently, the minor sued for setting aside the mortgage. The Privy Council had to ascertain the validity of the mortgage. Under Section 7 of the Transfer of Property Act, every person competent to contract is competent to mortgage. The Privy Council decided that Sections 10 and 11 of the Indian Contract Act make the minors contract void. The mortgagee prayed for refund of Rs. 8,000 by the minor. The Privy Council further held that as a minor¶s contract is void, any money advanced to a minor cannot be recovered.
2.A minor can be a promisee or a beneficiary
. During his minority, a minor cannot bind himself by a contract, but there is nothing in the Contract Act which prevents him from making the other party to the contract to be bound to the minor. Thus, a minor is incapable of making a mortgage, or a promissory note, but he is not incapable of becoming a mortgagee, a payee or endorsee. He can derive benefit under the contract
3. A minors agreement cannot be ratified by the minor on his attaining majority . A minor cannot ratify the agreement on attaining the age of majority as the original agreement is void ab-initio and, therefore, validity cannot be given to it later on
4.If a minor has received any benefit under a void contract, he can not be asked to refund the same:. We have mentioned the facts of Mohiri Bibi's case. Under that case, the lender could not recover the money paid to the minor. Also the property mortgaged by the minor in favour of the lender could not be sold by the latter for the realization of his loan.
5.A minor is always allowed to plead minority, and is not estopped to do so even where he had procured a loan or entered into some other contract by falsely representing, that he was of full age. Thus, a minor who has deceived the other party to the agreement by representing himself as of full age is not prevented, from later asserting that he was a minor at the time he entered into agreement.
6.A minor can not be a partner in a partnership firm. However, a minor may, with the consent of all the partners for the time being, be admitted to the benefits of partnership (Section 30, the Indian Partnership Act, 1932)..
7.A minor's estate is liable to a person who supplies necessaries of life to a minor , or to one whom the minor is legally bound to support according to his station in life. This obligation is cast on the minor not on the basis of any contract but on the basis of an obligation resembling a contract (Section 68). However, there is no personal liability on a minor for the necessaries of life supplied.
8.Minor's parents/guardians are not liable to a minor's creditor for the breach of contract by the minor,whether the contract is for necessaries or not. However, the parents are liable where the minor is acting as an agent of the parents or the guardian.
9.A minor can act as an agent and bind his principal by his acts without incurring any personal liability .Minor's Position Under English Law In England, one who has not attained full age is treated as an infant or a minor.Infancy, under the English law, means the period of life which precedes the completion of the twenty-first year, and persons under that age are regarded as infants.
Effects of Undue Influence
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Positions of a Minor in Contracts
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