Karan agreed to purchase wooden table for his study room from Mr. X. Table was in good condition and was examined by Karan before purchasing. He found no defects in it and paid ` 20,000 for that table. Later on, it was found that one leg of table is broken, and Mr. X has pasted the wood and tried to hide the defects in the table. Can Karan return the table and claim the amount back? Discuss the same with reference to Indian Contract Act, 1872.

As per Section 17 of Indian Contract Act, 1872, “A false representation of material facts when made intentionally to deceive the other party to induce him to enter into a contract is termed as a fraud.” Section 17(2) further states about active concealment. When a party intentionally conceals or hides some material facts from the other party and makes sure that the other party is not able to know the truth, in fact makes the other party believe something which is false, then a fraud is committed. In case a fraud is committed, the aggrieved party gets the right to rescind the contract. (Section 19). In the present case, Karan has examined the study table before purchasing it from Mr. X and could not find any defect in the table as it was concealed by Mr. X. On the basis of above provisions and facts of the case, Karan can rescind the contract and claim compensation for the loss suffered due to fraud done by Mr. X.