Section 6. 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.
Explanation of Section 6 Indian Contract Act, 1872
Section 6 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872, explains how a proposal (offer) can be revoked (canceled) before it is accepted. It lists four specific situations where an offer becomes invalid:
- Notice of Revocation: The person making the offer (proposer) can cancel it by informing the other party before they accept. For example, if Priya offers to sell her laptop to Rohan and then tells him she’s withdrawing the offer, it’s revoked.
- Lapse of Time: If the offer has a time limit for acceptance and it expires, the offer is canceled. If no time is mentioned, the offer ends after a reasonable period. For example, an offer to sell a car with a 5-day deadline is void if not accepted within 5 days.
- Failure to Meet Conditions: If the offer requires the other party to do something first (like submitting a payment), and they don’t, the offer is revoked.
- Death or Insanity of Proposer: If the proposer dies or becomes mentally unfit, and the other party knows this before accepting, the offer is canceled.
Key Points of Section 6 Indian Contract Act, 1872
- Revocation requires clear communication from the proposer to the other party before acceptance.
- An offer expires if the acceptance deadline passes or after a reasonable time without acceptance.
- Conditions set for accepting the offer must be met, or the offer becomes invalid.
- If the proposer dies or becomes insane, and the acceptor knows, the offer is revoked.
- Section 6 ensures proposers can withdraw offers fairly under specific conditions.