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ar sing   14 November 2024

Frustration of the contract.

My name is Dhananjay! I own a catering company and have signed a contract with a family to cater their daughter's wedding. The wedding is going to happen in Delhi and I had to move to Delhi from Mumbai for the function. Before a week of the wedding, our area got flooded and all the necessary things for the catering to be done were destroyed. 
I tried my best to control the situation, but nothing helped. The family is now saying that they filed a complaint against me for breach of the contract. Everything has already been destroyed by the flood, and I am not in a position to provide compensation. What should I do?



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 2 Replies

jyoti nawar   14 November 2024

Hello Dhananjay, 
After going through your query, I understand your grief about the destruction and the situation you are facing. I would like to offer you some advice that might help you out. 
First of all, I would like to tell you to calm down as you are not at fault as the destruction has been done by a natural disaster, that is not under the control of an ordinary human being, and you have the protection by law that will save you from paying the compensation to the aggrieved family. 
If the family files a lawsuit against you for the breach of the contract, then you can seek protection under Section 56 of the Indian Contract Act of 1872, which tells us about the Frustration of the contract. 
Let me tell you what FRUSTRATION OF CONTRACT IS.
This is a concept that tells us about situations where the performance of the obligation becomes impossible. Here in your case, you can state this concept as the flood destroyed all the necessary things and equipment, the performance of the contract became impossible. 
In this way, you will not have to pay the compensation to the family, and this will subsequently release you from liability. 
You can also refer to the case of Satyabrata Ghose v. Mugneeram Bangur & Co. (1954), as in this case, the Supreme Court held that the contract can be considered frustrated if some unforeseen circumstances make the performance of the contract impossible.
At last, I would like to tell you that you don't have to worry about the compensation as you are absolutely not at fault. And please don’t forget to grab the evidence of the flood and its destruction.

P. Venu (Advocate)     14 November 2024

Admittedly, your query is based on hearsay. No menaingful suggestions could be made unless the complaint is perused and issues discussed.


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