Meaning of Discharge of Contract

A contract does not stay alive forever — at some point the obligations under it come to an end. Discharge of a contract means the termination of the contractual relationship between the parties, so that neither is bound to perform their remaining obligations under it any longer.

Discharge can happen in several distinct ways: by the parties actually performing what they promised, by their mutual agreement to end or change the contract, by a supervening impossibility that makes performance impossible after the contract was made, by the mere lapse of time, by operation of law, or by one party's breach. This chapter covers each of these modes, with special attention to breach and the remedies available for it, since breach is the mode of discharge most often litigated. This chapter's coverage of Sections 37, 56, 62–67, and 73–75 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872 is the same central statute every Indian commerce student studies nationally, whether under Tamil Nadu's Commerce syllabus or CBSE's Business Studies syllabus.