2020 will be considered as a remarkable year in the history of the world. The outbreak of COVID-19 virus from Wuhan, a city of China has put the world in a state of lockdown. The world has come to a standstill, and no one knows when it is going to end as no vaccination has been developed yet. The virus known as Coronavirus was first spread in China and then in other countries like Italy, the United States, and has reached India. The World Health Organisation had declared COVID-19 as Pandemic, which means a disease that is prevalent throughout the world and is dangerous. Talking about India, cases of coronavirus are rapidly increasing day by day. Government of India, to safeguard its general public from the issue had declared “ Janta Curfew” on 22^nd March 2020 where the Prime Minister of India asked the people to self-isolate themselves in their houses for a day. After the success of Janta Curfew and keeping in view the rising cases of Virus, the government decided to lock down the whole country for 21 days until 14^th April by imposing Disaster Management Act, 2005 for the betterment of society.

A lockdown is a situation wherein only essential commodities like grocery items, dairy products, medicines and emergency services are provided by the government, all other services and goods sectors are to be shut. The impact of Coronavirus on the world economy is tremendous and significant as businesses are either closed or working from home. After the announcement of lockdown, every sector of the economy is facing problems of credit availability in the market. When a country is going through a lockdown, the people suffer the most as they are bound to cancel all their plans, future ventures, and any future related activities impacting their businesses or personal lives. Everyone is trying their best to postpone their plans which may be related to some bookings, investments, or any such things.

Furthermore, coronavirus had impacted all the pre-agreed deadlines, and therefore the firms are now looking ways through which they can cancel these contracts and become free of the obligations without attracting any legal consequences. To cancel a contract, without the fear of legalities, the only way remains is that the core activity of the contract should become “ impossible to perform” without the fault of either party. This contract is also known as “ frustrated contract” under the Indian Contract Act, 1872.

However, to a contract to fall under this category, the most prevalent question which arises is that “ Does the situation of COVID-19 falls under Act of God or Force Majeure”?

Act of God, also known as Vis Major is a situation where circumstances had occurred due to natural forces, and there is no human intervention. Everything happening related to such circumstances is because of the due course of nature and not the humans of society. Secondly, the act of god also considers the foreseeability of such events like were circumstances like this predicted or were foreseeable. Moreover, to include a case under the act of god, it is also necessary that the damage is in direct relation to the unforeseeable event. Act of God is a good defense for oneself to free himself/herself from all the legal obligations. Anyhow, pandemics are not considered under the Act of God in India.

In India, pandemics are considered a part of Force Majeure. It is important to understand that force majeure and the act of god are not the same. Force Majeure is a broader concept where the accident is not necessarily connected with nature and can be connected to human agency. One such example of force majeure is war. The government of China had already declared COVID-19 as a pandemic which is a result of Force Majeure and The China Council for the Promotion of International Trade had issued over 1,600 ‘ force majeure certificates’ to Chinese companies in February. However, in India, no such decision has been taken whether the situation of COVID-19 will be considered under the Act of God or Force Majeure.

The 21-day lockdown, which is currently faced by the country, is categorized under Force Majeure by the Indian Railways. The Indian Railways has relaxed freight charges, considering the lockdown period as “ force majeure” and is loading an average 25,000 wagons each day with essential commodities, as the national transporter looks to maintain the stability of freight operations in the country. The finance ministry has clarified that the Coronavirus can be classified as a natural calamity and the Force Majeure clause may be invoked. The Indian Railways has decided that period from 22.03.20 to 14.04.20 shall be treated under ' force majeure', and during this period no demurrage, wharfage, stacking, stabling, detention and ground usage charge shall be leviable. While all passenger trains services of the Indian Railways remain non-operational amid the nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of COVID-19, freight trains are running to ensure supplies that supplies of essential commodities particularly, are not interrupted.

India is eagerly waiting for the end of this lockdown and the virus. The virus had impacted the economy of India in a significant way which will take an ample amount of time to settle or calm the things down. As of now, the government of India had not taken any stand whether this act will be considered other Act of God or Force Majeure, but looking at the terms and conditions, it is more likely that the government will consider this pandemic under Force Majeure as most of the other countries are doing. However, when the whole country is under standstill, it is our moral duty to support the government and do our best to keep our country and its people safe.