Chandan was suffering from some disease and was in great pain. He went to Dr. Jhunjhunwala whose consultation fee was ` 300. The doctor agreed to treat him but on the condition that Chandan had to sign a promissory note of ` 5000 payable to doctor. Chandan signed the promissory note and gave it to doctor. On recovering from the disease, Chandan refused to honour the promissory note. State with reasons, can doctor recover the amount of promissory note under the provisions of the Indian Contract Act, 1872?

Section 16 of Indian Contract Act, 1872 provides that a contract is said to be induced by “undue influence” where the relations subsisting between the parties are such that one of the parties is in a position to dominate the will of the other and uses that position to obtain an unfair advantage over the other. Further, a person is deemed to be in a position to dominate the will of another— a) where he holds a real or apparent authority over the other, or (b) where he stands in a fiduciary relation to the other; or (c) where he makes a contract with a person whose mental capacity is temporarily or permanently affected by reason of age, illness, or mental or bodily distress. Section 19A provides that when consent to an agreement is caused by undue influence, the agreement is a contract voidable at the option of the party whose consent was so caused. Any such contract may be set aside either absolutely or, if the party who was entitled to avoid it has received any benefit thereunder, upon such terms and conditions as to the Court may seem just. From the facts of the case, Chandan signed the promissory note under undue influence applied by doctor. Hence, Dr. Jhunjhunwala cannot recover the amount of promissory note but can claim his normal consultation fee from Chandan.