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The Indian Contract Act, 1872: page 17

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    In each of these cases, the consideration or object of an agreement is said to be unlawful. Every
agreement of which the object or consideration is unlawful is void.
                                                          Illustrations
      (a) A agrees to sell his house to B for 10,000 rupees. Here B’s promise to pay the sum of 10,000 rupees is the consideration
for A’s promise to sell the house, and A’s promise to sell the house is the consideration for B’s promise to pay the 10,000 rupees.
These are lawful considerations.
      (b) A promises to pay B 1,000 rupees at the end of six months, if C, who owes that sum to B, fails to pay it. B promises to
grant time to C accordingly. Here, the promise of each party is the consideration for the promise of the other party, and they are
lawful considerations.
      (c) A promises, for a certain sum paid to him by B, to make good to B the value of his ship if it is wrecked on a certain
voyage. Here, A’s promise is the consideration for B’s payment and B’s payment is the consideration for A’s promise and these
are lawful considerations.
      (d) A promises to maintain B’s child, and B promises to pay A 1,000 rupees yearly for the purpose. Here, the promise of
each party is the consideration for the promise of the other party. They are lawful considerations.
      (e) A, B and C enter into an agreement for the division among them of gains acquired or to be acquired, by them by fraud.
The agreement is void, as its object is unlawful.
      (f) A promises to obtain for B an employment in the public service and B promises to pay 1,000 rupees to A. The agreement
is void, as the consideration for it is unlawful.
                                                                                      e
      (g) A, being agent for a landed proprietor, agrees for money, without the knowledge of his principal, to obtain for B a lease
                                                                              od
of land belonging to his principal. The agreement between A and B is void, as it implies a fraud by concealment, by A, on his
principal.

                                                                       aC
      (h) A promises B to drop a prosecution which he has instituted against B for robbery, and B promises to restore the value of
the things taken. The agreement is void, as its object is unlawful.
      (i) A’s estate is sold for arrears of revenue under the provisions of an Act of the Legislature, by which the defaulter is
                                                                 di
prohibited from purchasing the estate. B, upon an understanding with A, becomes the purchaser, and agrees to convey the estate
to A upon receiving from him the price which B has paid. The agreement is void, as it renders the transaction, in effect, a
                                                            In
purchase by the defaulter, and would so defeat the object of the law.
      (j) A, who is B’s mukhtar, promises to exercise his influence, as such, with B in favour of C, and C promises to pay 1,000
rupees to A. The agreement is void, because it is immoral.
      (k) A agrees to let her daughter to hire to B for concubinage. The agreement is void, because it is immoral, though the letting
may not be punishable under the Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860).
                                              Void agreements
    24.Agreements void, if considerations and objects unlawful in part.—If any part of a single
consideration for one or more objects, or any one or any part of any one of several considerations for a
single object, is unlawful, the agreement is void.
                                                 Illustration
     A promises to superintend, on behalf of B, a legal manufacture of indigo, and an illegal traffic in other articles. B promises
to pay to A a salary of 10,000 rupees a year. The agreement is void, the object of A’s promise, and the consideration for B’s
promise, being in part unlawful.
    25. Agreement without consideration, void, unless it is in writing and registered,or is a promise
to compensate for something done or is a promise to pay a debt barred by limitation law.—An
agreement made without consideration is void, unless—
        (1) it is expressed in writing and registered under the law for the time being in force for the
    registration of 1[documents], and is made on account of natural love and affection between parties
    standing in a near relation to each other ; or unless
        (2) it is a promise to compensate, wholly or in part, a person who has already voluntarily done
    something for the promisor, or something which the promisor was legally compellable to do; or
    unless;



1. Subs. by Act 12 of 1891, s. 2 and the Second Schedule, Pt. I, for “assurances”.

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