Section 200: Ratification of unauthorized act cannot injure third person

In plain words

An unauthorised act that, if authorised, would expose a third person to damages or end their rights or interests, cannot be given that effect by ratification.

Example: A tenant's lease can be ended on notice. Someone with no authority gives the tenant notice. The landlord cannot later ratify it to bind the tenant.

A simplified explanation, prepared with AI assistance from the official text below and checked automatically against it for numbers and cross-references. The official text is the law and prevails over this summary. Not legal advice.

Official text

An act done by one person on behalf of another, without such other persons authority, which, if done with authority, would have the effect of subjecting a third person to damages, or of terminating any right or interest of a third person, cannot, by ratification, be made to have such effect.

Illustrations

(a) A, not being authorized thereto by B, demands, on behalf of B, the delivery of a chattel, the property of B, from C, who is in possession of it. This demand cannot be ratified by B, so as to make C liable for damages for his refusal to deliver.

(b) A holds a lease from B, terminable on three months' notice. C, an unauthorized person, gives notice of termination to A. The notice cannot be ratified by B, so as to be binding on A.

Source: India Code (indiacode.gov.in), the consolidated text published by the Legislative Department, Government of India. Text as updated on India Code on 15 October 2026. Words in square brackets [ ] were inserted or substituted by later amending Acts, and *** marks words omitted by an amendment. The amendment footnotes are not reproduced here. Official text on India Code.

Supreme Court judgments citing the section 200

No Supreme Court judgment in our database cites this section yet.