Concept of Free Consent under Section 14

For any contract to be valid, there must be mutual agreement based on free will. This is governed by two key sections:

• Section 13 - Consent: "Two or more persons are said to consent when they agree upon the same thing in the same sense." (Consensus ad idem).
• Section 14 - Free Consent: Consent is said to be free when it is NOT caused by:
  1. Coercion (Section 15)
  2. Undue Influence (Section 16)
  3. Fraud (Section 17)
  4. Misrepresentation (Section 18)
  5. Mistake (Sections 20, 21, and 22)

1. The Legal Effect of Vitiated Consent

If consent is corrupted by the first four factors, the contract is Voidable under Section 19 and 19A. This means the contract is valid until the aggrieved party chooses to cancel (rescind) it in court.

However, if consent is corrupted by a mutual Mistake of Fact, the agreement is completely Void under Section 20.