What is Misrepresentation?
The definition of misrepresentation is provided under Section 18 of the Indian Contract Act 1872. “Misrepresentation is committed when the truth is misrepresented. Misrepresentation is the expressing of deceiving details resulting in the presumption that the other party will enter into a deal and then lose due to believing misrepresented facts.“
Under misrepresentation, the information provided by the guilty party is a result of a genuine belief, which the party believes and in such a case misrepresentation can be said to be committed. False information is shared at the beginning of the contract itself, the facts which are committed at the ground level may not be reliable at all and hence, it is considered a Misrepresentation of the contract. In this case, there can be Innocent Misrepresentation, and the other can be Negligent Misrepresentation. Misrepresentation can be of three types:
- When the person makes a positive assertion believing it to be true.
- When there is a breach of duty, it gives the person committing it an advantage by misleading another. But the breach of duty is done without any intent to deceive.
- When one party causes the other party to make a mistake as to the subject matter of the contract, this is done innocently and is not a deliberate action to commit misrepresentation.
Geeky Takeaways:
- Free consent is one of the elements which should be present in a contract, to make it valid and legally binding.
- To make a valid contract, one party should not have an undue advantage over the other, so consent is required to make the contract a fruitful junction between the two parties.
- When consent to an agreement is caused by either of any elements like coercion, fraud, misrepresentation, or undue influence, the agreement will be a contract voidable at the option of the party whose consent was so compromised
- Misrepresentation happens when someone says something untrue without trying to deceive.
Table of Content
- Example of Misrepresentation
- Cases of Misrepresentation
- Effects of Misrepresentation
- Conclusion
- Misrepresentation- FAQs