This document discusses the termination of an offer under contract law. It provides three main methods of terminating an offer: withdrawal of the offer by the offeror before acceptance, rejection of the offer by the offeree, and termination due to the lapse of time or the occurrence of a specified event. The document also examines two important court cases on the withdrawal of offers - Dickinson v Dodds and Hyde v Wrench. Finally, it outlines the relevant legal provisions around proposals, promises, communication, acceptance and revocation under the Contract Act of Bangladesh.

1. TERMINATION OF
OFFER
PREETI KANA SIKDER
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR
DEPARTMENT OF LAW & JUSTICE
JAHANGIRNAGAR UNIVERSITY

2. Revocation only takes effect
whenit actually reaches the
other party
GENERAL RULE

3. PRINCIPAL METHODS OF
TERMINATION
Withdrawal of offer
Rejection by offeree
Termination by lapse of time
Occurrence of certain event
Death of offeror

4. WITHDRAWAL OF OFFER
• An offer can be withdrawn by the offeror at any
time before it has been accepted.
• However, to withdraw an offer the notice of
withdrawal must actually be brought to the attention
of the offeree.
• There is no requirement that the offeror himself must
be the one to bring the withdrawal to the attention of
the offeree.

5. WITHDRAWAL OF OFFER
Dickinson v Dodds (1876)
• Defendant offered to sell house to claimant for 800 pounds,
the offer to be left open until Friday. On Thursday the
defendant sold the house to a third party, and the claimant
was informed of this by another third party.
• Can the claimant be entitled to buy the house?

6. HYDE V WRENCH (1840)
• The defendant offered to sell a farm to the claimant for £1,000.
• The claimant in reply offered £950 which the defendant refused.
• The claimant then sought to accept the original offer of £1,000.
• The defendant refused to sell to the claimant.
• The claimant brought an action for specific performance.

7. Legal Provisions in Bangladesh

8. WHAT IS A PROPOSAL? (SECTION 2
OF THE CONTRACT ACT)
• When one person signifies to another his
willingness to do or to abstain from
doing anything, with a view to obtaining
the assent of that other to such act or
abstinence, he is said to make a
proposal.

9. COMMUNICATION OF PROPOSAL
The communication of a proposal is
complete when it comes to the
knowledge of the person to whom it is
made.

10. COMMUNICATION OF PROPOSAL
•A proposes, by letter, to sell a house to B at a
certain price.
The communication of the proposal is complete
when B receives the letter.

11. WHAT IS A PROMISE?
(SECTION 2)
When the person to whom the proposal is made
signifies his assent thereto, the proposal is said
to be accepted.
A proposal, when accepted becomes a promise:

12. REVOCATION IN BANGLADESH
Communication, acceptance and revocation of proposals:
Section 3
• The communication of proposals, the acceptance of
proposals, and the revocation of proposals and acceptances,
respectively, are deemed to be made by any act or omission
of the party proposing, accepting or revoking by which he
intends to communicate such proposal, acceptance or
revocation, or which has the effect of communicating it.

13. REVOCATION IN BANGLADESH
• The communication of a revocation is complete,
as against the person who makes it, when it is put
into a course of transmission to the person to
whom it is made, so as to be out of the power of
the person who makes it;
as against the person to whom it is made, when it
comes to his knowledge.

14. ILLUSTRATION
•A revokes his proposal by telegram.
The revocation is complete as
against A when the telegram is
dispatched. It is complete as against
B when B receives it.

15. REVOCATION IN BANGLADESH
Section 5:
• A proposal may be revoked at any time
before the communication of its
acceptance is complete as against the
proposer, but not afterwards.

16. REVOCATION IN BANGLADESH
Revocation how made: Section 6:
• A proposal is revoked –
(1) by the communication of notice of revocation by the
proposer to the other party;
(2) by the lapse of the time prescribed in such proposal for its
acceptance, or, if no time is so prescribed, by the lapse of a
reasonable time, without communication of the acceptance;
(3) by the failure of the acceptor to fulfil a condition precedent
to acceptance; or
(4) by the death or insanity of the proposer, if the fact of his
death or insanity comes to the knowledge of the acceptor before
acceptance.

17. THANK YOU