Contracts are usually described as valid, void and voidable.

Valid Contract is an agreement

enforceable at the law courts. Those agreements which are not enforceable at the law courts, i.e.,
for the enforcement of which legal recourse cannot be taken, are known as Void Contracts. In
between the valid and the void contracts are the voidable contracts. Such contracts are the
outcomes of Flaw in Consent. At an early stage you have read that, “an agreement can be called a
contract provided it is made with the Free Consent of the parties, competent to contract for a lawful
consideration and for a lawful object and is not expressly declared to be void”. When we analyse
this statement we come to know that to be a contract, an agreement must be made with the Free
Consent of the parties to the contract. Here is the importance of “Free Consent” which is very
much necessary for the validity of the contract. The genuineness of the consent implies that the
parties to the contract must mean the some thing in the same sense and not only that but they
should mutually agree voluntarily. If their minds do not meet at the same thing in the same sense
voluntarily, then their consent shall not be called Free or Voluntary. The consent in such case
might have been obtained under Fraud or Misrepresentation or Coercion or undue influence. In
such a case the party giving his consent under any of these four elements shall have a right to
withdraw his consent. Such a contract where the consent of a party or parties to the contract is
caused by any of the elements stated above, i.e. Fraud Misrepresentation, Coercion or Undue
Influence/shall be called a Voidable Contract and shall be enforceable at the option of the
aggrieved party or parties and not at the option of the other or others.
Let us make our point clear with the help of an example. Suppose A is willing to sell his car to B
for Rs. 15,000, but B is willing to purchase it for Rs. 10,000 only. A tells B if he (B) refuses, to
purchase the car for Rs. 15,000 he (A) shall fire upon him. Due to this threat of getting himself hit
by A’s gun, B gives his consent to purchase the car for Rs.15,000 only. Here B’s consent cannot
be said to be obtained freely or voluntarily. It is cause by threat to the injury of B’s person.
Therefore B has a right to withdraw his consent even at a later stage. B’s consent shall be said to
be caused by Coercion. Such similar examples can be multiplied. Thus Free Consent plays a very
important role in the validity of a Contract. If there is no Consent, there is no Contract. Sir John
Salmond has called flaws in Consent as ‘Error in Causa’. According to him error has been made
in causing consent of one of the parties to the agreement which has become responsible for vitiating
the validity of the contract. Error in Causa is created by the cause of either Coercion, or Undue
Influence or Fraud or Misrepresentation.
A voidable contract, unlike a void contract, is a valid contract which may be either affirmed or
rejected at the option of one of the parties. At most, one party to the contract is bound. The
unbound party may repudiate (reject) the contract, at which time the contract becomes void.
Typical grounds for a contract being voidable include coercion, undue
influence, misrepresentation or fraud. A contract made by a minor is often voidable, but a minor
can only avoid a contract during his or her minority status and for a reasonable time after he
reaches the age of majority. After a reasonable period of time, the contract is deemed to be
ratified and cannot be avoided.[1] Other examples would be real estate contracts, lawyer
contracts, etc.
When a contract is entered into without the free consent of the party, it is considered a voidable
contract. The definition of the act states that a voidable contract is enforceable by law at the
option of one or more parties but not at option of the other parties. A voidable contract may be
considered valid if it is not cancelled by the aggrieved party within a reasonable time.

Free Consent is one of the essential elements of a valid contract. The essence of this requirement
is that a person should enter into an agreement with a free as well as an open mind and without
any fear. If any one has not allowed the other party the freedom of expression, the agreement
will not be fair. No person under law is compelled to enter into a contract and be bound by any
obligations pertaining to it without his / her free consent.

http://vle.du.ac.in/mod/book/view.php?id=9558&chapterid=14995

Fraud is false representation of facts made willfully to deceive another person.

Definition of Fraud
Section 17 of the Indian Contract Act states that “if any of the following acts are committed by
any party to a contract or with his agent’s connivance, willfully with intent to deceive or induce
another person or his agent to enter into the contract it will result in fraud”.