A quasi contract is designed to prevent one party from unfairly benefiting at another party's expense, even though no contract exists between them. There is no offer and acceptance It is based on morality, equity, good conscience and on the principles of natural justice Ubi jus, ibi remedium – meaning 'where there is a right, there is a remedy'

1. Law of Contracts – I
QUASI - CONTRACTS
Presented by
C.N.VIJAYBALAJI M.E., LL.B.(Pursuing),

2.  Introduction
 Theories on Quasi-Contracts
 Quantum Meruit
 Quasi-Contracts in English Law
 Provisions of the Indian Contract Act
 Conclusion
 Bibliography
Contents

3.  A quasi contract is designed to prevent one party
from unfairly benefiting at another party's expense,
even though no contract exists between them.
 There is no offer and acceptance
 It is based on morality, equity, good conscience and
on the principles of natural justice
 Ubi jus, ibi remedium – meaning 'where there is a
right, there is a remedy'
Introduction

4.  A person in whose home certain goods have been
left by mistake is bound to restore them.
 Such obligations are said as Quasi-Contractual
Obligations.
Theories on Quasi-Contracts
 Theory of unjust enrichment
 Theory of ‘implied-in-fact’ contract
 Restoration of theory of Unjust Enrichment

5.  Theory of unjust enrichment
 Lord Mansfield, founder of quasi-contractual
obligations, explained, justice should try to prevent
“unjust enrichment” of one person on the cost of
other.
Case Law: Moses V Macferlan
The defendant is obliged by ties of natural justice and equity to refund the money

6.  Theory of ‘implied-in-fact’
contract
 The House of Lord’s discard Lord Mansfield’s
formulation and rely upon an implied-in-fact contract.
 In a case of Building society against the shareholders,
The House of Lords allowed rateable distribution of the
mixed fund among the claimants but did not allow any
remedy under quasi-contract.

7. Restoration of theory of
Unjust Enrichment
 The observations of their Lordships relating to the
foundation of quasi-contract were merely obiter dicta
(‘a thing said by the way’).
Case Law: Fibrosa Spolka V Lawson Combe Barbour ltd
A some of money paid in advance for the supply of a machine but it was obstructed due to
war. The Lordship granted the recovery of the advance.
 Lord Wright lent support to Lord Mansfield’s Theory of
unjust enrichment.

8. Quantum Meruit
 When ‘A’ done some work or service to ‘B’ and further
performance was useless, ‘A’ can recover
compensation from ‘B’.
Case Law: Plinche V Colburn
The plaintiff was an author who accepted to work in an article for 100 guineas with the
defendant, and the suddenly discontinued, plaintiff done some work and claimed
50 guineas

9. Quasi-Contracts In
English Law
 Payments to the defendant’s use
 Payments made under mistake of fact
 Payments made under an ineffective contract
 Payments made under compulsion

10.  Payments to the defendant’s use
 Payment made under pressure and not voluntarily
 The defendant should have been bound to pay and has
been relieved of his liability by the payment made by
the plaintiff
 Payment made purely voluntarily will not be liable
 Payments made under mistake of fact
 The mistake must be a fact

11.  Payments made under an ineffective
contract
 Total failure of consideration
 If A pays B to do a job, but when B fails to do, A can
sue B and recover back his money under Quasi-
Contract
 Payments made under compulsion
 The payment made under compulsion is liable and the
payment can be reclaimed.

12. Provisions of the
Indian Contract Act
 Supply of necessaries (Sec 68)
 Payment of interested person (Sec 69)
 Liability to pay for Non-Gratuitous Acts (Sec 70)
 Finder of Goods (Sec 71)
 Mistake or Coercion (Sec 72)

13.  Supply of necessaries (Sec 68)
 If the “necessaries” for a person, who is incapable of
contracting (for example, a minor or a mentally
disabled person) or of the dependents of such a
person are taken care of by someone, he has the right
to be reimbursed from the property of such incapable
person.

14.  Payment of interested person (Sec 69)
 The party paying the other party’s dues is interested in
the payment.
 The party whose payment is due was in fact bound by
law to pay.

15.  Liability to pay for Non-Gratuitous Acts (Sec 70)
 When ‘A’ lawfully does something for ‘B’ (for example,
delivers a good or a service) without intending to do so
‘gratuitously’ (non-gratuitously) and B enjoys the
benefit of the delivery of that good or service, B is
bound to pay back to A.

16.  Finder of Goods (Sec 71)
 A person who finds goods that belong to another
person shall be treated as a bailee. A bailee is
essentially a safe keeper of the goods, who is supposed
to return the goods to the actual owner or dispose
them in the manner in which the actual owner may
want them to.

17.  Mistake or Coercion (Sec 72)
 If something is delivered to a person by ‘mistake’ or
under ‘coercion’, he is liable to pay it back.
 A and B share a flat and contribute in half for the rent to be paid. A , without
knowing that B has already paid the due rent to the landlord in whole, pays
again to the landlord. The landlord, in this case, is liable to give back the
money delivered to him by mistake. The term mistake here can mean both
mistake of fact or mistake of law.
 coercion- A railway company refuses to deliver goods to a certain consignee except
upon the payment of a certain illegal sum of money. The consignee pays the sum to
obtain his goods. The company is liable to return the sum of money illegally charged.

18.  CONCLUSION
A contract has certain elements, like the offer, and its
acceptance, that give rise to an agreement. The
agreement, if it is legally enforceable becomes a contract,
that is, it can be taken care of in a court of law, in case it is
not performed by either of the parties involved. Yet, there
are certain situations where even in the absence of an
‘agreement’ as such, one or the other party is obliged to
perform something. Such obligations are called quasi-
contractual obligations. Chapter V of the Indian Contract
Act, 1872 deals with such obligations.

19.  BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Bareact of the Indian Contract Act, 1872
2. Contract & Specific Relief by Avtar Singh

20. THANKYOU !!!