The parties to a contract must either perform, or offer to perform, their respective promises, unless such performance is dispensed with or excused under the provisions of this Act or of any other law. Promises bind the representatives of the promisors in case of the death of such promisors before performance, unless a contrary intention appears from the contract. Where a promisor has made an offer of performance to the promisee, and the offer has not been accepted, the promisor is not responsible for non -performance, nor does he thereby losses his rights under the contract.
Every such offer must fulfill the following conditions:
(1) It must be unconditional
(2) It must be made at a proper time and place, and under such circumstances that the person to whom it is made may have reasonable opportunity of ascertaining that the person by whom it is made is able and willing there and then to do the whole of what he is bound by his promise to do
(3) If the offer is an offer to deliver anything to the promisee, the promisee must have a reason able opportunity of seeing that the thing offered is the thing which the promisor is bound by his promise to deliver.
An offer to one of several joint promisee’s has the same legal consequences as an offer to all of them.
When a party to a contract has refused to perform, or disabled himself from performing his promise in its entirety, the promisee may put an end to the contract, unless he has signified, by words or conduct, his acquiescence in its continuance.
By whom Contracts must be performed
- If it appears from the nature of the case that it was the intention of the parties to any contract that any promise contained in it should be performed by the promisor himself, such promise must be performed by the promisor. In other cases, the promisor or his representatives may employ a competent person to perform it. When a promisee accepts performance of the promise from a third person, he cannot afterwards enforce it against the promisor.
- When two or more persons have made a joint promise, then, unless a contrary intention appears by the contract, all such persons, during their joint lives, and, after the death of any of them , his representative jointly with the survivor or survivors, and, after the death of the last survivor, the representatives of all jointly, must fulfill the promise.
- When two or more persons make a joint promise, the promisee may, in the absence of express agreement to the contrary, compel any one of such joint promisors to perform the whole of the promise. Each of two or more joint promisors may compel every other joint promisor to contribute equally with himself to the performance of the promise, unless a contrary intention appears from the contract. If any one of two or more joint promisors makes default in such contribution, the remaining joint promisors must bear the loss arising from such default in equal shares.
Explanation .– Nothing in this section shall prevent a surety from recovering, from his principal, payments made by the surety on behalf of the principal, or entitle the principal to recover anything from the surety on account of payments made by the principal.
- Where two or more persons have made a joint promise, a release of one of such joint promisors by the promisee does not discharge the other joint promisor or joint promisors; neither does it free the joint promisor so released from responsibility to the other joint promisor or joint promisors.
When a person has made a promise to two or more persons jointly, then unless a contrary intention appears from the contract, the right to claim performance rests, as between him and them, with them during their joint lives, and, after the death of any of them , with the representative of such deceased person jointly with the survivor or survivors, and, after the death of the last survivor, with the representatives of all jointly.
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