Section 23 Of Indian Contract Act – Lawful Considerations And Objects

"No polluted hand shall touch the pure fountains of justice."¹

Section 23² of the Indian Contract Act, 1872 ("Act"), enumerates of three issues, i.e. consideration for the agreement, the object the agreement and the agreement per se. Section 23 creates a limitation on the freedom of a person in relation to entering into contracts and subjects the rights of such person to the overriding considerations of public policy and the others enunciated under it.³ Section 23 also finds its bearing in the other sections of the Act, namely section 264, 275, 286 and 307.

The word "object" used in section 23 connotes means "purpose" and does not purport a meaning in the same sense as "consideration". For this reason, even though the consideration of a contract may be lawful and real, that will not prevent the contract from being unlawful if the purpose (object) of the contract is illegal. Section 23 restricts the courts, since the section is not guided by the motive, to