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6. Section 14 of the Contract Act which defines Free Consent reads as under:-

14. Free consent defined.Consent is said to be free when it is not caused by (1) coercion, as defined in section (2) undue influence, as defined in section 16, or (3) fraud, as defined in section 17, (4) misrepresentation, as defined in section 18, (5) mistake, subject to the provisions of sections 20, 21 and 22.

Consent is said to be so caused when it would not have been given but for the existence of such coercion, undue influence, fraud, misrepresentation or mistake.

It would thus be seen that a consent is a free consent unless it is obtained by use of coercion, undue influence, fraud or misrepresentation or its given on account of a mistake, subject to the provisions contained in Section 20 to 22 of the said Act. Coercion is defined in Section 15, undue influence is defined in Section 16, fraud is defined in Section 17 and misrepresentation is defined in Section 18 of the Act. The aforesaid Sections read as under:-

15. "Coercion" defined.- "Coercion" is the committing, or threating to commit, any act forbidden by the Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860) 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.

Nothing in the sub-section shall affect the provisions of section 111 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 (1 of 1872)

17. "Fraud defined.- "Fraud"

means and includes any of the following acts committed by a party to a contract, or with his connivance, or by his agents, with intent to deceive another party thereto his agent, or to induce him to enter into the contract;

(1) the suggestion as a fact, of that which is not true, by one who does not believe it to be true;

(2) the active concealment of a fact by one having knowledge or belief of the fact;