Q. ‘M’, a poor woman, executed an agreement in favour of her Mookhtear (Manager), binding herself to give him, by way of remuneration for his services, one half of the property which she might recover with his assistance. Can the Mookhtear get the agreement enforced?
Civil Services (I.A.S.) Exam. 1975
Rajasthan Judicial Service Exam. 1979
Ans: Yes, the Mookhtear can get the agreement enforced—Kali Bux Singh v. Ram Gopal Singh, (1943) IA 23.
Reasons: When a contract is made by or with a Pardanashin Woman (See below under the heading ‘NOTE’ for Pardhanashin Woman), it is presumed that contract was induced by undue influence and the contrary has to be proved by the person who had made a contract with Pardhanashin Woman—Supreme Court in Kharbuja Kuer v. Jang Bahadur, AIR 1963 SC 1203. The same law is applicable in case of a woman who is illiterate and ignorant, whether she is Pardanashin or not—Kanwari v. Raghunath, AIR 1976 HP 41.
Facts of this problem have been taken from the famous case of Kali Bux Singh v Gopal Singh referred above. In this case it was argued that the woman who executed the agreement in favour of her Mookhtear (Manager) is a Pardanashin illiterate woman and the agreement is the result of undue influence as the woman could not take independent advice in this regard. The Privy Council in this case held that undue influence will not be presumed only on the ground that the independent advice was not taken by the woman before entering into contract. Although it is an important factor to consider undue influence, it is not the only factor. The main test in such cases is whether a woman before making the contract has understood the nature of the contract and its effect on her interest or not. The Privy Council further held that from the circumstances it appears that independent advice would not have made any difference in this case and the undue influence by Mookhtear will not be presumed.
On the basis of a decision given by the Privy Council in Kali Bux Singh v. Ram Gopal Singh it can be said that in the given problem Mookhtear (Manager) can get the agreement enforced against ‘M’.
Note: Pardanashin Woman—A Pardanashin Woman probably means a woman who is totally secluded from ordinary social intercourse—Hodges v. Delhi and London Bank, (1901) 27 IA 168.
Kishor Prasad
