'A' and 'B' contract that 'A' shall build a house for 'B' at a fixed price. The order in which reciprocal promises are to be performed was not fixed. What shall be the order of performance?
Rajasthan High Court Civil Judge - 2019, Rajasthan Judicial Service - 2019,
Answer: A
A's promise to build the house must be performed before B's promise to pay for the house.
Section 52 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872 says that where the order of performance of reciprocal promises is not fixed by the contract, they shall be performed in the order the nature of the transaction requires. Illustration (b) to the section is this very case: A and B contract that A shall build a house for B at a fixed price, and A's promise to build must be performed before B's promise to pay.
Payment for a house before it is built, or simultaneous performance, is not what the nature of a building contract requires.
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