Consideration — MCQs

All questions with answers and explanations

Read the full set here, or use the practice card above to test yourself one question at a time.

1. Under Section 2(d), consideration must move at:

   • The desire of the promisor (correct answer)
   • The desire of any third party
   • The court's direction
   • The registrar's approval

   Explanation. Consideration must be given at the desire of the promisor — an act done voluntarily or at someone else's request is not valid consideration.

2. In Durga Prasad v. Baldeo, the plaintiff's claim failed because:

   • He built the shops at the Collector's desire, not the shopkeepers' (correct answer)
   • There was no reward offered at all
   • He was a minor
   • The shops were never built

   Explanation. His original effort was done at the Collector's request, not the shopkeepers' — so it wasn't valid consideration for their later promise to pay commission.

3. Which of these is required for consideration to be valid?

   • It must be adequate/fair in value
   • It must be real and lawful (correct answer)
   • It must be given by the promisee personally
   • It must be in the form of money

   Explanation. Consideration must be real and lawful, but need not be adequate — courts don't assess fairness of the exchange, only that something of value was genuinely given.

4. Under Section 25, which of these is NOT a listed exception to 'no consideration, no contract'?

   • Natural love and affection between near relatives (written and registered)
   • Compensation for a past voluntary act
   • A promise to pay a time-barred debt (in writing, signed)
   • A promise made under undue influence (correct answer)

   Explanation. A promise made under undue influence is not an exception to the consideration requirement — it's a separate ground affecting free consent.

5. Under Section 185, a contract of agency requires:

   • No consideration at all (correct answer)
   • Written registration only
   • Double consideration
   • Court approval

   Explanation. Section 185 explicitly states no consideration is necessary to create an agency — a specific exception outside Section 25's own text.

6. Consideration that has already been performed before a promise is made is called:

   • Executory consideration
   • Past consideration (correct answer)
   • Void consideration
   • Future consideration

   Explanation. Past consideration is something already done before the promise was made — valid in India (unlike the stricter English position), provided it was done at the promisor's desire.

7. A father signs and registers a written promise to give his son Rs 1,000 out of natural love and affection. Nothing is given in return. The promise is:

   • Void for lack of consideration
   • Valid under the Section 25(1) exception (correct answer)
   • Voidable at the son's option
   • Enforceable only if witnessed by two people

   Explanation. This is Section 25(1), as in the Act's illustration (b): written, registered, between near relatives and out of natural love and affection. It is a contract although nothing is given in return.

8. If B finds A's lost wallet and returns it, and A later promises to pay B ₹500 as thanks, this promise is enforceable under:

   • Section 25(1) — natural love and affection
   • Section 25(2) — compensation for a past voluntary act (correct answer)
   • Section 25(3) — time-barred debt
   • It is not enforceable at all

   Explanation. This is Section 25(2) — a promise to compensate someone who has already voluntarily done something for the promisor is enforceable, even without fresh consideration.