Section 58 The Indian Contract Act, 1872
🔹 Section 58 – The Indian Contract Act, 1872
“Alternative promise, one branch being illegal”
In the case of an alternative promise, one branch of which is legal and the other illegal, the legal branch alone can be enforced.
📘 Explanation:
This section applies to alternative promises — where a person promises to do one of two things, but one option is illegal.
In such a case, only the legal alternative can be enforced in law; the illegal option is void and unenforceable.
✅ Key Points:
Alternative Promise = Choice between two or more acts.
If one act is lawful and the other is unlawful, the lawful act can still be enforced.
The illegality of one option does not void the entire contract, as long as the other branch is valid.
🧑⚖️ Example (Illustration from the Act):
A promises to deliver to B, either:
100 bags of rice, or
Smuggle opium into the country.
Since smuggling opium is illegal, only the delivery of rice can be enforced in a court of law.
🔗 Related Sections:
Section 23 – What considerations and objects are lawful.
Section 24 – Agreements void if considerations are unlawful in part.
Section 29 – Agreements void for uncertainty.
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