Change ), This post is based on a brief part of the paper titled “, The sad end to the grief- stricken life (life, in technical sense) of Aruna Shanbaug has reopened the debate of euthanasia, Right to commit suicide, assisted- suicide amongst various other issues related to our Criminal Justice System before our society and policymakers. The cases linked on your profile facilitate Casemine's artificial intelligence engine in recommending you to potential clients who might be interested in availing your services for similar matters. The authors have expressed their opinions herein in their personal capacity and not in official capacity apropos their respective organisations. ( Log Out /  Change ), You are commenting using your Facebook account. The conclusion I have arrived at, though with considerable hesitation, is that the facts relied on by the Lower Courts do not in law constitute “coercion” or “undue influence'’ so as to invalidate the release deed executed by the plaintiffs. Citation. v. Chikkam Seshamma And Anr, [7] where the Court opined that it is simply due to the fact that there is no one left to be punished and consequently, the case is beyond the Court’s jurisdiction. Indian Penal Code with Notes by W. Morgan and A.G. MacPherson, Harvard Law School Library, pp. In the case of Chikkam Ammiraju and Ors. v. Chikkam Seshamma And Anr, [7] where the Court opined that it is simply due to the fact that there is no one left to be punished and consequently, the case is beyond the Court’s jurisdiction. Case brief. However, in a case before the Lahore High Court [8] where a minor obtained benefit by way of fraud was held liable to refund the same to the plaintiffs. The material contentions in Second Appeal are found in the grounds 3 and 4 of the Memorandum as follows:—, “3. There is evidence that the 1st plaintiff was greatly distressed owing to her son having run away from home in order to avoid having to execute this document, and that owing to the pressure brought to bear upon Chikkam Ammiraju And Ors. As regards the question whether the release deed was brought about by “undue influence”, it may be that Swami was in a position to dominate his wife's will but he was not a party to the contract; and Sect. 9. 1 that relying upon the said bank guarantee furnished by the 2nd defendant, the defendant No. In this case a Hindu by a threat of suicide induced his wife and son to execute a release deed in favour of his brother in respect of certain properties claimed as their own by the wife and the son. I would therefore allow the appeal. According to Section 15 of the Indian Contract Act, “Coercion is the committing, or threatening to commit, any fact forbidden by the Indian Penal Code, or the unlawful detaining, or threatening to detain, any property, to the prejudice of any person whatever, with the intention of causing any person to enter into an agreement.” Explanation– It is immaterial whether the Indian Penal Code (XLV of 1860), is or is not in force in the plac… 15 of the Contract Act.”. Change ), You are commenting using your Twitter account. Therefore, in light of the above discussion, it is submitted that there is a need to study the statutory framework, else every step sought to be taken (how mighty be the intentions), would be rendered redundant. According to the facts of the present case, the court found that the partial restraint observed in the agreement was not unreasonable and thus void. on 23 January, 1917 3. Search for jobs related to Kesavananda bharati vs state of kerala case summary or hire on the world's largest freelancing marketplace with 19m+ jobs. A promise to do something between two parties, or not, is said to form a sort of mutual understanding in pursuance of individual interests. Mr. Patanjali Sastriar for the appellants argued that the “prejudice” to the feelings or to the supposed spiritual welfare of the wife and son of Swami by the carrying out of Swami's threat was not the sort of prejudice contemplated by Sect. vs Chikkam Seshamma And Anr. I am unable to accept as correct the view taken by the Lower Court that the prejudice to Swami's own life was sufficient to bring the threat within the definition of “coercion”—(assuming that Swami intended by the threat to induce his wife and son to execute the release-deed). 16 of the Contract Act. The question before the court was whether a threat to commit suicide could be considered to be an act forbidden by the Indian Penal Code. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. In a case of Chikkam Amiraju v. Chikkam Seshamma, an issue arose that whether a property release executed by a wife and son as a result of a threat of suicide by the husband is to be understood as an effect of coercion or not? The only question in this case is whether the release-deed, Exhibit A, was executed by the plaintiffs with their free consent, or whether it was obtained from the two plaintiffs (mother and son) through the exercise of coercion or undue influence or both, brought to bear upon them by the defendants (the younger brothers of the 1st plaintiff's husband) and their father Doraiyya through the 1st plaintiff's husband Swami, who threatened to commit suicide unless the plaintiffs executed the release-deed (Exhibit A) in respect of their reversionary rights in certain lands which the 1st plaintiff's mother had sold without necessity to the defendants' father's vendor. In Ranganayakamma v. Alwar Setti(2), a widow executed a deed of adoption as her relations (not the adopted boy) obstructed the removal of her husband's corpse by her or her guardian to the cremation ground unless she executed the deed. Mr. M. Patanjali Sastri for Mr. P. Narayana Murthi for the Appellants. 98 of the Code of Civil Procedure, the decree of the Lower Appellate Court is confirmed with costs. Chikkam Seshammas husband and Ammiraju were brothers. the plaintiff. Such an expression of the will of the person to another is called a proposal. Hence suicide and an attempt to commit suicide are acts forbidden by the Penal Code, though the former cannot be punished under the Code as a dead man cannot be punished. It is unnecessary to go into the question whether prejudice or injury to sentiments, feelings or supposed spiritual welfare is also contemplated in the definition of coercion in the Contract Act. 15 of the Contract Act as being forbidden by the Penal Code, the section applicable being presumably Sect. Olivier Dressayre Groupe La Poste. ‘Law and Morality’, edited by Louis Bloom Cooper and Gravin Drewry, pp. The Courts below ought to have held that any persuasion on the part of the 1st plaintiff's husband, who is no party to Exhibit A, even if proved, cannot invalidate the document.”, “Coercion is defined (Contract Act, Sect. Moore, J.—I regret that I have the misfortune to differ from my learned brother. 95 lacs and Rs. The Lower Courts have not dealt with the question in a satisfactory manner. Banning Commercial Surrogacy: Can a Regulated Framework Address the Moral Concerns? Whether this amounted to … ( Log Out /  The court ruled in the favour of the respondents as this amounted to coercion. In case of any confusion, feel free to reach out to us.Leave your message here. Chikkam Ammiraju And Ors. Chikkam Ammiraju v. Chikkam Seshama (1917) 32 MLJ 494; This is a case involving coercion wherein the question before the Court was whether coercion could be caused by a threat to commit suicide. Master of Business Administration (MBA) Uploaded by. Chikkam Ammiraju executed a mortgage deed in favour of his brother and obtained a certain amount of money, later he failed to pay the amount to his brother. The answer can be found in the decision in the case of Chikkam Ammiraju And Ors. change. 16 (2) (b) of the Contract Act consequently does not, I think apply. 273, 276, S. 299, Indian Penal Code 1860 states, “, S. 300, Indian Penal Code 1860 states, “, S. 309, Indian Penal Code 1860 states, “, Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window), Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window), Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Opinion: Decriminalising Attempt to Commit Suicide- A Take on the Penal Provision, Quashing of Attempt to Commit Suicide Charges in a Curious Love Affair – Obiter Dictum, According Legal Identity to Natural Resources: Approach Towards Environment Protection, Book Launch – Commentary on “Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code – Law and Practice”. At, High Court of Judicature at Madras By, THE HONOURABLE CHIEF JUSTICE MR. ... [15] The case now comes before us on a Letters Patent Appeal owing to a difference of opinion between Sadasiva Aiyar and Moore, JJ. I have found considerable difficulty in deciding the question whether the husband's threat to commit suicide amounts to coercion as defined in Sect. Course. Creating your profile on CaseMine allows you to build your network with fellow lawyers and prospective clients. that there is no one left to be punished and consequently, the case is beyond the Court’s jurisdiction. It is submitted that the efforts have been undertaken by the Parliament, are mistaken even if the intention is right. The defendants are the appellants. Court.—Under Sect. Case laws. ( Log Out /  * Enter a valid Journal (must Creating a unique profile web page containing interviews, posts, articles, as well as the cases you have appeared in, greatly enhances your digital presence on search engines such Google and Bing, resulting in increased client interest. Get 1 point on adding a valid citation to this judgment. Consent-Sec 13 of the Indian Contract Act defines Consent as “when two parties entered into the contract there should agree upon the same thing in the same manner”, there should be a meeting of minds between the two parties. 15) as, “committing or threatening to commit, any act forbidden by the Indian Penal “Code, or the unlawful detaining, or threatening to detain, any property, to the “prejudice of any person whatever, with the intention of causing any person to “enter into an agreement.”. 298, 499, 508, etc., of the Indian Penal Code showing that the Criminal Law does not recognize also acts causing some of such sentimental injuries as punishable). Author : V. Krishna Laasya Introduction. CHIKKAM AMMIRAJU vs. CHIKKAM SESHAMMA In this case, Chikkam Ammiraju induced his wife Chikkam Seshamma and his son, to execute a release deed in favour of his brother in respect of certain properties which they claimed as their own. Get 2 points on providing a valid reason for the above 297, Indian Penal Code. on 23 January, 1917 Indian Kanoon - 2 The only question in this case is whether the release-dead Ex. Collins, C. J. and Muthuswami Aiyar, J., held that the act of the defendants was an unlawful act covered by Sect. Due to love and affection chikkam seshammas husband wanted to release the mortgage in favour of his brother. The Subordinate Judge says: “The degrading position to which a respectable Hindu wife would be reduced “in case Swami had given effect to his threat should have considerably contributed “in (sic) inducing the plaintiff to sign Exhibit A.”, “there is no doubt that a threat to commit suicide constitutes coercion within “the meaning of Sect. 10,000 and suppose B is a man of such fine artistic feelings that to save the noble structure, he gives the pro-note, is the note voidable for coercion?” I see no difficulty in answering the question in the affirmative, provided the Court is able to arrive at the conclusion that the threat (which was to do an act of mischief or vandalism prohibited by the Penal Code to the prejudice of Government) was intended to bring about the execution of the pronote and did have that effect. Chikham Amiraju v Chikham Seshamma (1912) 16 IC 344 Madras High Court By threat of suicide, a Hindu induced his wife and son to execute a release in favour of his brother in respect of certain properties which they claimed as their own. The issue arises as to why while Indian Penal Code forbids culpable homicide/ murder and punishes it, the latter provision, i.e. It means the same thing whether, when a man kills himself, it is called an act of suicide or a successfully accomplished attempt to commit suicide; and an attempt to commit suicide is punishable under the Penal Code. In India, in case of coercion not only the contract is voidable under Section 19, but if some money has been paid or well delivered by a party to a contract under coercion, the same is recoverable under Section 72[13] for example (illustration of sec 72 (b)). There is evidence that the 1st plaintiff was greatly distressed owing to her son having run away from home in order to avoid having to execute the document, and that owing to the pressure brought to bear upon her by her husband, coupled with his threat to commit suicide, she was induced to join in the execution of a document. [1917] 32 MLJ 494, para. In the 13 Madras case, however, there would have been no difficulty in finding that the widow's consent was obtained by “undue influence” within the meaning of Sect. v. Chikkam Seshamma and Anr(1917) In this case, a husband threatened his wife and son to commit suicide if they did not release a sale added in favor of his younger brother. In this case a Hindu by a threat of suicide induced his wife and son to execute a release deed in favour of his brother in respect of certain properties claimed as their own by the wife and the son. I think the words “any person whatever” have been advisedly used by the legislature to indicate that the act need not be to the prejudice of the person entering into the contract. Please log in or sign up for a free trial to access this feature. Get 1 point on providing a valid sentiment to this 5) Case Law : Chikkam Ammiraju V. Chickam Seshamma ILR (1918) 41 Mad 33 In this case, the husband by a threat of suicide, induced his wife and son to execute a release deed in favor of his brother in respect of a certain proprieties claimed as their own by the wife and son. The findings of the Lower Courts which we must accept are that, under a threat of suicide by Swami, his wife, the 1st plaintiff, and his son, the 2nd plaintiff, executed the release-deed. v. Chikkam Seshamma and Anr., appellant threatened to commit suicide if his deed was not honored; the respondent was the wife and their son. 2Nd defendant, the couple travelled to England for a vacation within Sect the... 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