A quasi-contract is a legal obligation imposed by law on a party, even though they never made an offer or gave an acceptance. It is based entirely on the equitable doctrine of Unjust Enrichment pioneered by Lord Mansfield:
"No person shall be allowed to enrich himself unjustly at the expense of another."
1. The Five Statutory Scenarios (Sections 68-72)
The Indian Contract Act, 1872 codifies five specific quasi-contractual obligations:
- Section 68 - Claim for Necessaries: If a person supplies necessaries (food, clothes, education) to an incompetent person (a minor or lunatic), they can recover the cost from the incompetent person's estate. They cannot sue them personally.
- Section 69 - Payment by an Interested Person: If A pays money which B is legally bound to pay, and A has an interest in making the payment to protect his own rights, A can recover that money from B (e.g., a tenant paying the landlord's municipal taxes to prevent the property from being seized).
- Section 70 - Obligation to pay for Non-Gratuitous Acts: If a person lawfully does something or delivers goods to another, not intending to do so gratuitously, and the other person enjoys the benefit, they must compensate them or return the goods (e.g., a delivery boy leaving a pizza at your house by mistake, and you eat it).
- Section 71 - Responsibility of a Finder of Goods: A finder of lost goods has the same legal duties as a Bailee. They must take reasonable care of the goods, try to find the real owner, and can only sell the goods if they are perishable or if the owner cannot be found after reasonable effort.
- Section 72 - Money paid by Mistake or under Coercion: A person to whom money has been paid, or anything delivered, by mistake or under coercion, must repay or return it (e.g., transferring money to the wrong bank account).