Section 39

Section 39 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872, deals with the effect of becoming impossible of a contingent contract. It states: "A contingent contract to do or not to do anything, if an event, the happening of which is impossible, is made, is void, whether the impossibility of the event is known or not to the parties to the contract at the time when it is made." This implies that if a contingent contract is made to do or not to do anything, and the event on which the contract is contingent is impossible, the contract is void, regardless of whether the parties knew about the impossibility of the event at the time of making the contract. The section further explains that if the impossibility of the event is known to the parties, the contract is void ab initio. The Indian courts have interpreted this section to mean that contingent contracts can become void if the event on which they are contingent becomes impossible.