Indian Contract Act, 1872 · Chapter III: Of Contingent Contracts
Section 31: "Contingent contract" defined
In plain words
A contingent contract is a contract to do or not do something if some event, collateral to the contract, does or does not happen.
Example: A contracts to pay B Rs. 10,000 if B's house is burnt. This is a contingent contract.
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
A "contingent contract is a contract to do or not to do something, if some event, collateral to such contract, does or does not happen.
Illustration
A contracts to pay B Rs. 10,000 if Bs house is burnt. This is a contingent contract.
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.