Section 24 explained: this guide covers what it means, who it applies to, the step-by-step process, documents required, fees, due dates and penalties in India — so you can stay compliant with confidence and avoid costly mistakes.
Section 24 deals with an agreement that is partly lawful and partly unlawful. It says that if any part of a single consideration for one or more objects, or any one or any part of any one of several considerations for a single object, is unlawful, the agreement is void.
"If any part of a single consideration for one or more objects, or any one or any part of any one of several considerations for a single object, is unlawful, the agreement is void." Unlawfulness is judged by section 23. The Act's illustration: a promise to superintend a legal manufacture of indigo and an illegal traffic in other articles, for one salary, is void, because the object of A's promise and the consideration for B's promise are in part unlawful.
The two cases the section covers
Section 24 is worded in a compact way. Take it apart.
| Case | Text | In plain words |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | "any part of a single consideration for one or more objects" | One consideration is given for one or more objects; part of that consideration is unlawful |
| 2 | "any one or any part of any one of several considerations for a single object" | Several considerations are given for a single object; any one of them, or part of any one, is unlawful |
In both cases the result is the same: "the agreement is void".
If you are putting several promises and payments into one agreement and want to be sure none of them is unlawful, our agreement drafting service can help you check each one.
Case 1: a single consideration, one or more objects
Here there is one consideration, for example one payment, which is given for one or more objects. If a part of that consideration is unlawful, the agreement is void. The text says "any part".
Case 2: several considerations, a single object
Here there are several considerations for one object. If any one of the considerations, or any part of any one of them, is unlawful, the agreement is void.
What "unlawful" means
Section 24 does not define unlawful. It takes the meaning from section 23: a consideration or object is unlawful if forbidden by law, defeating the provisions of any law, fraudulent, involving or implying injury to the person or property of another, or regarded by the Court as immoral or opposed to public policy. See our article on section 23.
The Act's own illustration
A promises to superintend, on behalf of B, a legal manufacture of indigo, and an illegal traffic in other articles. B promises to pay A a salary of 10,000 rupees a year. The agreement is void, the object of A's promise, and the consideration for B's promise, being in part unlawful.
Look at how it fits the section. A's promise has two objects: one lawful (legal manufacture of indigo) and one unlawful (illegal traffic in other articles). B's single salary is the consideration for both. Because the salary is a single consideration for objects that are in part unlawful, the agreement is void. The Act does not split the agreement into a valid half and a void half in this illustration.
How it differs from other void-to-the-extent sections
Section 24 says "the agreement is void", whole. Some other sections speak differently:
| Section | Wording on extent |
|---|---|
| 24 | "the agreement is void" |
| 27 | Agreements in restraint of trade are "to that extent void" |
| 28 | Agreements restricting legal proceedings are "void to the extent" stated |
So where the Act wants only the offending part to be void, it says so, as in sections 27 and 28. Section 24 does not use such words. We cover those sections in our articles on section 27 and on section 28. The text of section 24 does not say whether a court may separate the lawful part from the unlawful part; that question has been worked out in case law, which is outside this article.
A modern example (ours, not the Act's)
Imran hires Joya's consultancy for a fixed monthly retainer. The agreement lists her duties: preparing his company's regular reports (lawful), and also arranging for entries in the company's books to be falsified to hide a loss from a lender (unlawful, as a fraud on the lender). Imran's single retainer is the consideration for all her promises, and the object of Joya's promises is in part unlawful. On the pattern of the Act's indigo illustration, the whole agreement is void under section 24, not just the falsification part.
A safer approach is to keep lawful engagements and unlawful ones apart, which in this case means not accepting the unlawful engagement at all.
What can the parties change?
Section 24 states the effect of partial unlawfulness; the parties cannot agree that the unlawful part will be ignored. A clause saying "if any part of this agreement is unlawful, the rest remains valid" does not appear in section 24, and we do not say whether it works; the text is silent. The reliable course is to draft separate agreements for separate lawful engagements, and to remove any part that falls under section 23.
Practical points
- Review the whole package. One unlawful strand in a bundle of promises can make the whole agreement void under section 24.
- Separate engagements. Where you can, keep distinct engagements in distinct documents.
- Check each payment. A single payment that is partly for an unlawful purpose is within the first case.
- Take advice on severability. The section does not say whether the lawful part can survive; that depends on law outside the text.
Need help with an agreement that mixes several engagements?
If your agreement combines several services, payments or objects and you want to be sure that none of them runs into section 23, our agreement drafting team can review the draft and help you keep the lawful engagements clean and separate.
Key takeaways
- If any part of a single consideration for one or more objects is unlawful, the agreement is void (s.24).
- If any one, or any part of any one, of several considerations for a single object is unlawful, the agreement is void.
- Unlawful has the meaning given in section 23.
- The Act's indigo illustration shows the whole agreement void, not only the unlawful part.
Read next
- Section 23: lawful consideration and lawful object
- Section 25: agreement without consideration
- Section 27: restraint of trade and non-compete clauses
- Void and voidable contracts: sections 24 to 30
Disclaimer: Based on the text of the Indian Contract Act, 1872 as consulted on 1 October 2026. Many questions under this Act turn on case law and on the wording of the particular contract, which this article does not cover. It is general information, not legal advice; check the official text and take advice before acting.