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CA Foundation · Business Laws · The Indian Contract Act, 1872

Pooja's pet dog goes missing. She announces a reward of Rs 5,000 through a public notice for anyone who finds and returns it. Quentin finds the dog and returns it, but he had never seen the notice. Can Quentin claim the reward?

Quentin cannot claim the reward. A general offer is accepted by performing the required act, but the performer must know of the offer and act on it. Since Quentin returned the dog without knowing about the notice, there was no acceptance and no contract.

  1. AYes, because the offer was made to the world and he performed the act
  2. BNo, because he did not know of the offer when he acted, so there was no acceptanceCorrect
  3. CYes, but only if he had first communicated acceptance to Pooja
  4. DNo, because an offer to the general public cannot be accepted

Explanation

A general offer can be accepted by performing the stipulated act, but acceptance requires knowledge of the offer. Quentin acted without knowing of it, so he was not acting on the proposal and there is no acceptance. Option C is wrong because performance of the act itself is acceptance of a general offer, so prior communication is not needed.

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