A issued a pamphlet offering a reward of Rs. 1,000 to anyone who locates his missing son. ‘B’ found the boy and brought him to ‘A’ before reading the pamphlet. Can ‘B’ claim the reward?
TheSayeed Answered question March 15, 2024
Facts of the Case:
- A issued a pamphlet offering a reward of Rs. 1,000 to anyone who brings his missing son to him.
- ‘B’ found A’s missing son and returned him to A without being aware of the reward offer.
Issue in the Case:
- Can ‘B’ claim the reward for finding A’s missing son, despite not being aware of the reward offer?
Principle:
- According to Section 8 of the Indian Contract Act, an offer must be communicated to the offeree, and acceptance can only occur after the offeree becomes aware of the offer.
- Performance of the conditions of an offer, after being made aware of the offer, constitutes acceptance of the offer.
Judgment:
- ‘B’ cannot claim the reward offered by A for finding his missing son.
- The offer made by A through the pamphlet constitutes a public offer.
- However, in order for ‘B’ to claim the reward, he must have been aware of the offer and performed the conditions mentioned in the offer with the intention of accepting it.
- Since ‘B’ was unaware of the reward offer at the time he found and returned A’s missing son, his actions were not done in expectation of the reward.
- Therefore, ‘B’ cannot successfully claim the reward from A.
This situation mirrors the case of Lalman Shukla v. Gauri Dutt, (1913) 11 All. LJ 489, where the court ruled that the plaintiff could not claim a reward because he was unaware of the offer at the time of his actions.
TheSayeed Answered question March 15, 2024