3. Read the situation below and answer the questions that follow:

A party X entered into an agreement with another party Y to supply television sets during the

entire year from January to December 2020. The agreement did not have a force majeure

clause. The lockdown resulted in the stoppage of production of television sets in India

between March and June 2020. Party Y however continued to demand the supply of the

television sets and stated that there would be a breach of the contract in case of non-supply,

for which they would take Party X to the court. In light of this situation, answer the following

questions.

(a) What could be a potential defence for Party X under the Indian Contract Act, 1872 which

they can cite for the non-performance of the contract and how can they fulfill the

requirement to use this defence? (4 marks)

(b) What is a force majeure clause? How would the defence strategy change for Party X in

case there was a Force Maejure clause present in the contract which contained an

exception for government action which prevented fulfilment of the contract? (6 marks)