FRAUD SECTION 17

Section 17 of the Contract Act ‘fraud’ includes any of the following acts by a party to a contract, or with his connivance, or by his agent, with intent to deceive another party thereto or his agent, or to induce him to enter into the contract ,

Fraud is defined in S17 To include certain acts To induce another party To enter into contract

Wherever a person causes another to act on a false representation which the maker himself does not believe himself to be true, he is said to have committed a fraud

A promise made without any intention of performing it Section 17 The suggestion, as to a fact, of that which is not true by one who does not believe it to be true The active concealment of a fact by one having knowledge of belief of the fact A promise made without any intention of performing it Any other act fitted to deceive Any such act or ormission as the law specially declares to be fraudelent

ILLUSTRATIONS ILLUSTRATIONS A sells, by auction, to B a horse which A knows to be unsound. A says nothing to B about the horse’s unsoundness. This is not fraud in A

A sells by auction to B a cat which A knows to be unsound B is A’s daughter A sells by auction to B a cat which A knows to be unsound Here, the relation between the parties would make it A’s duty to tell B if the cat is unsound

Here, A’s silence is equivalent to speech. B says to A. ‘If you do not deny it, I shall assume that the bird is sound. A says nothing. Here, A’s silence is equivalent to speech.

S19 of the Contract Act Provides that when consent to an agreement is caused by coercion, fraud or misrepresentation, the agreement is a contract voidable at the option of the party whose consent was so caused

Letchemy Arumugam v Anamalay Cases: Letchemy Arumugam v Anamalay Keates v Lord Cadogan Lau Hee Teah v Hargill Engineering Sdn Bhd & Anor