History of the Doctrine of Consideration

It is the presence of consideration which distinguishes a contract from a bare agreement. In fact the doctrine of consideration has been incorporated in Section 25 of the Indian Contract Act. Section 2(d) of the Act reads : " When at the desire of the promisor , the promisee or any other person has done or abstained from doing or promised to do or abstain from doing anything , such act or abstinance or promise is called a consideration for …

…desired to extend the scope of assumpsit , and as it took the obvious step of implying an agreement from the existence of a debt, and allowing assumpsit to be brought on this implied agreement. It was Slades Case which fixed the character of the action of assumpsit by enabling it to absorb the greater part of the sphere by the action of debt and to become a remedy for the breach of purely executory contracts.