Statutory Rules Regarding Offer
The following legal rules concerning the offer are quite important:
(1) Offer Must be Made with the Object of Establishing Legal Relationships. There must be established the legal relations between the parties to the offer. The social agreements don’t create the legal relationships, e.g., going to walk together, taking meals together, studying together, etc.
(2) Conditions of Offer Must be Definite. The conditions of offer must be definite and clear. For instance, if Ram offers Shyam to sell his goat on the condition that if it bears an issue in future, he shall dispose of the goat, this offer is uncertain.
(3) Offer Must be in the Form of Request. The offer must be in the requesting and mild form, not in the form of annorder. The offerer might fix up any condition for the acceptor to agree to the offer, but not to reject it. In other words, the offerer can’t say so that in case the acceptance is not received within a specific period, the proposal or offer shall be considered to have been accepted.
(4) Offer May be Ordinary or Special. When some
offer is made before some specific person, it is known as a special offer. However, when some offer is made for the public in general or for indefinite persons or their group, it isnknown as the common or general offer.
(5) Information Must be Given Regarding the Offer.
The person, to whom the offer is made, must certainly haventhe information regarding the offer. If the offer is not communicated, the consent could not be possible to be given.
(6) Offer May be Express or Implied. When any offer is clearly told orally or in writing, it is known as the express offer. When the offer is not clearly declared but only seems so by the conduct or behaviour, it is known as the implied offer. The implied offer is known by the business traditions andnconventions, the method of working and the behaviour of the proposer. For instance, on a bus-stand, the movement of buses at definite time and place and transporting the passengers, is an example of implied offer.
7. One must make an offer with an objective of obtaining the consent of the other party-one must make an offer to do or not to do anything with a view of obtaining thenconsent of the second party involved. Just an expression ofnintention cannot be treated as an offer.
8. One must not impose an obligation to communicate non-acceptance while making an offer – It must not benbinding on the offeree to communicate his non-acceptancento the offeror. Therefore, it cannot be said by an offeror that the offer will be presumed to have been accepted if the non-acceptance is not communicated before a certain date.
9. There may be a condition attached with the Offer -subject to any condition an offer can be made. An offer, in that case, can be accepted subject to that condition. Thenoffer lapses if the condition is not accepted. The person accepting the offer is presumed to have accepted it with conditions if the offer contains certain conditions and thenproposer has done what was reasonably necessary to give notice to the acceptor.
10. Lapse of an offer- An offer is considered lapsed when-
(a) Either the offeror or the offeree dies before accept ancestors.
b.Not accepted within
(i) the specified time or
(ii) a reasonable time.
Circumstances decide what a reasonable time is.
The shares of a company were offered to be purchased by a person. The offer was accepted by the company after 5bmonths. It was presumed to be lapsed because it was held that there was an unreasonable delay in accepting the offer.
