All agreements are contracts if they are made by the free consent of parties competent to contract, for a lawful consideration and with a lawful object, and are not hereby expressly declared to be void.
Nothing herein contained shall affect any law in force in ¹ India and not hereby expressly repealed by which any contract is required to be made in writing² or in the presence of witnesses, or any law relating to the registration of documents.

1. Subs. by Act 3 of 1951, s. 3 and Sch., for "Part A States and Part C States " which had been subs. by the A.O. 1950, for the Provinces.
2. See e.g., s. 25, infra; the Copyright Act, 1957 (14 of 1957), s. 19; the Carriers Act, 1865 (3 of 1865), ss. 6 and 7; the Companies Act, 1956 (1 of 1956), ss. 12, 30, 46 and 109.