Indian Contract Act Section 14 — “Free consent” defined
CHAPTER II OF CONTRACTS, VOIDABLE CONTRACTS AND VOID AGREEMENTS
Commercial / Corporate
Summary
Consent is considered free when it is not brought about by any of the five factors listed in this section. These factors are coercion, undue influence, fraud, misrepresentation, or mistake, each of which is defined in the specific sections of the Act mentioned below.
Sub-section (1) covers coercion, which is defined in section 15 of the Act. Sub-section (2) covers undue influence, as defined in section 16. Sub-section (3) covers fraud, as defined in section 17. Sub-section (4) covers misrepresentation, as defined in section 18.
Sub-section (5) covers mistake, but this is subject to the provisions of sections 20, 21, and 22 of the Act, meaning that the rules about mistake in those sections apply here. The final part of this section explains that consent is considered to be caused by any of these factors when the person giving consent would not have given it if that factor had not been present. In other words, if coercion, undue influence, fraud, misrepresentation, or mistake was the reason the consent was given, then the consent is not free.
Official Text
Consent is said to be free when it is not caused by—
(1) coercion, as defined in section 15, or
(2) undue influence, as defined in section 16, or
(3) fraud, as defined in section 17, or
(4) misrepresentation, as defined in section 18, or
(5) mistake, subject to the provisions of sections 20, 21 and 22. Consent is said to be so caused when it would not have been given but for the existence of such coercion, undue influence, fraud, misrepresentation or mistake.