Question:medium

Principle: Mere silence as to facts likely to affect the decision of a person to enter into a contract is not fraud.
Facts: A sells to B (A’s daughter who is a minor) a horse which A knows to be unsound. A says nothing to B about the unsoundness of the horse.

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Silence in contracts does not amount to fraud unless there is an obligation to disclose the information.
Updated On: Jul 15, 2026
  • A has committed fraud
  • A has committed no fraud
  • There cannot be a contract between a father and daughter
  • The daughter did not ask therefore the father did not tell, hence no fraud
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The Correct Option is B

Approach Solution - 1

The relevant question is simply whether silence alone, without any active concealment or false statement, can be fraud under this principle.

  1. A has committed fraud: Incorrect, the principle expressly carves out mere silence from the definition of fraud, and that is all A did.
  2. A has committed no fraud: A only stayed silent about the horse's unsoundness; since silence alone is excluded from fraud by the principle, A has committed none.
  3. No contract can exist between father and daughter: Nothing in the principle restricts contracts based on family relationship.
  4. No fraud because the daughter did not ask: This reaches the right conclusion for the wrong reason, silence is excused regardless of whether a question was asked.

The correct answer is A has committed no fraud.

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Approach Solution -2

Assuming each option true in turn.

  1. A has committed fraud: Assume true, then A must have done something beyond staying silent, some active concealment or false statement. Nothing in the facts describes any such conduct, A only failed to mention the unsoundness, so the assumption has no additional act to rest on.
  2. A has committed no fraud: Assume true, then A's conduct must fall entirely within mere silence. It does, A said nothing about the horse's condition and did nothing more, matching the principle's own carve-out precisely.
  3. No contract can exist between father and daughter: Assume true, then the principle would need some rule about family relationships barring contracts. No such rule appears anywhere in the text given, so the assumption is unsupported.
  4. No fraud because the daughter did not ask: Assume true, then the exemption for silence would have to depend on whether a question was asked. The principle's wording contains no such condition, it excuses silence outright, so the assumption adds a requirement the text doesn't impose.

Only the assumption that A's silence falls outside fraud survives, since nothing in the facts goes beyond simple silence.

Therefore, the correct answer is A has committed no fraud.

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