Consent - Definition - Law Dictionary Home Dictionary Definition consent

Definition :

Consent, an act of reason accompanied with delib-erations, the mind weighing, as in a balance, the good or evil on either side. Consent supposes three things-a physical power, a mental power, and a free and serious use of them. Hence it is that if consent be obtained by intimidation, force, meditated impositions, circumvention, surprise, or undue influence, it is to be treated as a delusion, and not as a deliberate and free act of the mind. In relation to Criminal Law, see (English) Criminal Law Amendment Acts, 1885-1922, and see AGE; ABDUCTION.

The word 'consent' as used in s. 30(2) of the Sale of Goods Act means 'agreeing on the same thing in the same sense' as defined in s. 13 of the Indian Contract Act. A consent induced by false representation may not be free, but it can nevertheless be real, and ordinarily the effect of fraud or misrepresentation is to render a transaction voidable only and not void, Central National Bank Ltd. v. United Industrial Bank Ltd., AIR 1954 SC 181: (1954) SCR 391.

The term 'consent' is a much stronger word than knowledge because it implies conscious assent, Haji C.H. Mohammad Koya v. T.K.S. M.A. Muthukoya, (1979) 2 SCC 8: AIR 1979 SC 154 (168): (1979) 1 SCR 664.

Every consent involves a submission but the converse does not follow, and mere act of submission does not involve consent. For constituting consent, there must be exercise of intelligence based on the knowledge of the significance and the moral effect of the act. A girl whose mental faculties are undeveloped, cannot be said in law, to have suffered sexual intercourses with consent, Tulshidas Kanalkar v. State of Goa, (2003) 8 SCC 590 (592). [Penal Code 1860, ss. 376 and 506(2)]

The concept and dimensions of 'consent' in the con-text of section 375 IPC has been viewed from different angles. The decided cases on the issue reveal different approaches which may not necessarily be dichotomous. Of course, the ultimate conclusion depends upon the facts of each case, Deelip Singh v. State of Bihar, (2005) 1 SCC 88.

Two or more persons are said to consent when they agree upon the same thing in the same sense. (Contract Act, 1872, s. 13)