Krish, Kamya and Ketan are partners in a firm. They jointly promised to pay Rs. 6,00,000 to Dia. Kamya become insolvent and her private assets are sufficient to pay 1/5 of her share of debts. Krish is compelled to pay the whole amount to Dia. Examining the provisions of the Indian Contract Act, 1872, decide the extent to which Krish can recover the amount from Ketan.
OR
A, B, C and D are the four partners in a firm. They jointly promised to pay ` 6,00,000 to F. B and C have become insolvent. B was unable to pay any amount and C could pay only ` 50,000. A is compelled to pay the whole amount to F. Decide the extent to which A can recover the amount from D with reference to the provisions of the Indian Contract Act, 1872.

Question

Accepted Answer

Joint promisors (Section 42 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872) 
When two or more persons have made a joint promise, then unless a contrary intention appears by the contract, all such persons must jointly fulfil the promise. 
Any one of joint promisors may be compelled to perform (Section 43) 
As per section 43 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872, when two or more persons make a joint promise, the promisee may, in the absence of express agreement to the contrary, compel any one or more of such joint promisors to perform the whole of the promise. 
Each of two or more joint promisors may compel every other joint promisor to contribute equally with himself to the performance of the promise, unless a contrary intention appears from the contract. 
If any one of two or more joint promisors makes default in such contribution, the remaining joint promisors must bear the loss arising from such default in equal shares. 
In the instant case, Krish, Kamya and Ketan jointly promised to pay Rs. 6,00,000 to Dia. Kamya become insolvent and her private assets are sufficient to pay 1/5 of her share of debts. Krish is compelled to pay the whole amount. Krish is entitled to receive Rs. 40,000 from Kamya’s estate, and Rs. 2,80,000 from Ketan.
OR
In the instant case, A, B, C and D have jointly promised to pay ` 6,00,000 to F. B and C become insolvent. B was unable to pay any amount and C could pay only ` 50,000. A is compelled to pay the whole amount to F. 
Hence, A is entitled to receive ` 50,000 from C and ` 2,75,000 from D, as worked out below: 
From C ` 50,000= (C’s Liability ` 1,50,000 Less: Amount he could not pay ` 1,00,000). 
From D ` 2,75,000= (D’s Liability `1,50,000+1/2 of liability of B (Loss) (1,50,000*1/2) i.e. ` 75,000+1/2 of C’s liability (Loss) (1,00,000*1/2) i.e., ` 50,000) In other words, equal proportion i.e., ` 5,50,000 (i.e.`6,00,000-`50,000) / 2. 
Thus, total amount A can receive from C and D comes to `3,25,000 (50,000+2,75,000)

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2. Analysis & Application of Facts

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