Book Release: “Consensus Ad Idem” by Kaushik Laik

Thomson Reuters has released a book titled “Consensus Ad Idem – Consent and Free Consent in Contract Law”, authored by Kaushik Laik, Advocate-on-Record, Supreme Court..Justice (Retd.) AK Patnaik, former Judge of the Supreme Court, has written a foreword to the book, highlighting its significance in the context of commercial laws in the country..The Book, while seeking to discuss the concepts of “consent” and “free consent” under the Indian Contract Act, traverses through various English decisions which have not just influenced the Indian courts, but which continue to expand the jurisprudence on this branch of law. It also discusses a catena of other issues ranging from economic duress, encashment of bank guarantees, puffs and disparaging advertisements, reparation principles vis-à-vis damages for contractual breaches as well as the law of pleadings – issues which have a nexus with the main theme of this Book..While highlighting the significance of this Book in the context of commercial arbitrations in the country, Justice Patnaik observes:.“In India, resolution of commercial disputes through arbitration is picking up very fast as the parties to a commercial agreement are not prepared to go to Civil Courts for adjudication of their disputes on account of procedural delays. The Courts are also jammed by a large number of criminal cases and other civil cases which cannot be settled through arbitration. The whole foundation of the law of arbitration is agreement based on the free consent of the parties, both with regard to procedural matters and substantive rights of the parties. This book will therefore be a great help to corporate parties and public sector undertakings which have entered into arbitration agreements for deciding commercial disputes between them. Lawyers, practitioners and arbitrators will also find the book useful in understanding agreements and the legal consequences flowing from such agreements in arbitration cases.”.Kaushik Laik, an alumni of NUJS (2007 Batch), has also authored a treatise on Manipulative Trade Practices in Securities (Taxmann, 2013), besides being an editor of an exhaustive commentary on the Companies Act, 2013 (Taxmann, 2014)..The books is now available to purchase on Amazon.