Distinction / Difference between Coercion and Duress | Law of Contract

December 28, 2017

2

No	Coercion	Duress
1)	Meaning – Coercion is a process by which consent is obtained by threatening to commit an act punishable under the Indian Penal Code 1860. It means making a person to give his consent by force or threat. Section 15 of the Indian Contract Act 1872 defines coercion as "the committing or threatening to commit any act Forbidden by Indian penal code 1872, or the unlawful detaining or threatening to detain, any property to the prejudice of any person whatever the with the intention of causing any person to enter into an agreement".	Meaning – Duress, under Common Law, consists in actual violence or threat of violence to a person. It includes doing an illegal act against a person, whether it is to be crime or tort. Duress is not confined to unlawful acts Forbidden by any specific penal law, like the Indian penal code in India
2)	In India coercion can also be there by detaining or threatening to detain any property.	In England, duress is constituted by acts or threats against any person of a man and not against his property.
3)	In India, Coercion may proceed from a person who is not a party to the contract, and it may also be directed against a person who again, maybe a stranger to the contract.	In England, duress should proceed from a party to the contract and is also directed against the party to the contract himself, or his wife, parent, child or other near relatives.