DISCHARGE OF CONTRACT

MEANING
The contractual relationship come to an end when the rights and obligations arising out of such a relationship come to an end. When these contractual relations are terminated between the parties, it is called Discharge of Contract . A contract maybe discharged in a number of ways.

WAYS OF DISCHARGE OF CONTRACT

BY PERFORMANCE BY IMPOSSIBILITY OF PERFORMANCE(SECTION 56) BY MUTUAL AGREEMENT (SECTION 62) BY OPERATION OF LAW BY BREACH OF CONTRACT BY LAPSE OF TIME

BY PERFORMANCE
This is the desirable mode of discharge of contract. Here, the parties have fulfilled their obligations and thus the contractual relations come to an end. A contract can be discharged under this in two ways: Actual Performance Attempted Performance (tender of performance)

BY SUPERVENING (SUBSEQUENT) IMPOSSIBILITY (SECTION 56)

Sometimes the performance of a contract may become impossible subsequent to the formation of a contract. This is called subsequent of supervening impossible. This results in discharge of contract. Under Section 56, a contract is discharged for the following reasons: Destruction of subject matter Death or incapacity of party Change of law The foundation of the contract ceases to exist Declaration of war

SUPERVENING (SUBSEQUENT) IMPOSSIBILITY (SECTION 56)

However, a contract is not discharged by the supervening impossibility in the following cases: Difficulty of Performance Commercial Impossibility i.e. Commercially unprofitable Default of third party Strikes, Lockouts and civil disturbances

BY MUTUAL AGREEMENT (SECTION 62)

A contract is created by the parties to it, and hence, it can be terminated by the mutual disagreement between the parties. These are the ways by which a contract can be discharged under mutual agreement: Novation (Section 62) Alteration (Section 62) Rescission (Section 64) Remission (Section 63) Waiver

BY OPERATION OF LAW
A contract comes to an end by operation of law in the following circumstances: Death of the promisor Insolvency Merger Unauthorized material alternation

BY LAPSE OF TIME
The Indian Limitation Act, 1963 provides the time within which an aggrieved person can file a suit in the court of law for the enforcement of his legal rights arising out of contract. If the period of limitation expires according to the Indian Limitation Act, the promisee cannot enforce the promisor and the contract is discharged.

BY BREACH OF CONTRACT
The breach of contract brings to an end the obligations created by a contract on the part of each of the parties. The agreed party in this case gets the right to rescind the contract. Therefore, such a breach leads to discharging of the contract. A breach of contract can be further classified into two ways: Actual breach of contract Anticipatory breach of contract

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