What is a Void Contract?
A Void Contract is a kind of contract that is not enforceable by law. At the time of contract formation, the contract is valid as it fulfils all the requisite conditions necessary to constitute a valid contract, i.e. free consent, capacity, consideration, a lawful object, etc. But due to a subsequent change in any existing law or impossibility of an act which is beyond the imagination and control of the parties to the contract, the contract cannot be performed and hence, it becomes void. In addition to this, a party cannot sue another party for the non-performance of a contract. The contract becomes void because of the changes in any law or any government policy for the time being in force in India. Also, the contracts which are opposed to public policy also ceases its enforceability.
For example, X promises Y to sell his horse after one month to Y for Rs.45,000. Before the completion of one month, the horse died. Now, the contract becomes void since the contract cannot be performed, i.e. the object on which both the parties agreed is no more, so there is an impossibility of performance of the contract. This type of contract is known as Void Contract.
Difference between Void and Voidable Contract
When an agreement is enforceable by law, it becomes a Contract. Based on validity, there are several types of contracts, i.e. Valid contracts, Void contracts, Illegal contracts, etc. Void contracts and Voidable contracts are mostly misconstrued, but they are different. A void contract implies a contract that lacks enforceability by law and is not valid from the beginning, whereas a Voidable contract alludes to a formal contract between two parties that could become void on various legal grounds.