Opinion National Interest PoV 50-Word Edit

ThePrint On Camera Videos In Pictures

Society & Culture Around Town Book Excerpts Vigyapanti The Dating Story

More Judiciary Education YourTurn Work With Us Campus Voice

Opinion National Interest PoV 50-Word Edit

ThePrint On Camera Videos In Pictures

Society & Culture Around Town Book Excerpts Vigyapanti The Dating Story

More Judiciary Education YourTurn Work With Us Campus Voice

Acts of God cases are Acts of State now. The courts are not convinced

The 'superior force' striking your contract is less likely to be a storm or a war. It is most possibly the stroke of a regulator's pen.

The sirens of the US-Israel-Iran conflict on 28 February 2026 were followed by an immediate, albeit quieter, legal tremor in the Gulf. With Qatar, Kuwait, and Bahrain declaring force majeure on oil and gas exports, Indian energy markets are now bracing for a wave of non-performance. One should expect a wave of contractual defaults, as a domino effect of supply chain failures. Some of these defaults will inevitably bubble up to the courts in the coming months, and “Acts of God” will become an oft-cited phrase in Indian courtrooms. But, how often do Indian courts allow force majeure as an excuse for contract non-performance? 

A perfect lawyer-like answer to this question would tell you that “much depends on the facts and circumstances of each case”, the judge in question, and the lawyer arguing the case. And that is perhaps correct at the level of an individual case. However, with a large enough random sample of cases, it is possible to identify the plausibility of a force majeure defense more generally before an Indian court.  We analysed 305 commercial and company disputes before the High Courts of Bombay and Delhi, and the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), respectively, using TheProfesseer’s database. We specifically pick cases where a counterparty to a contract invoked force majeure as a defense for not performing their contractual obligations.

Our analysis reveals three critical findings. First, force majeure spikes follow macroeconomic shocks. Second, what is legally defended as an “Act of God” is invoked more often today to shield against unpredictable “Acts of the State.” Third, courts tend to disagree with force majeure pleas seven out of 10 times.

How often do these cases arise in courts?

Cases invoking force majeure (FM) are best seen as a lagged record of macroeconomic crises. These cases follow the familiar sequence of commercial conflict: a physical disruption triggering a contractual delay, private negotiations failing as a result, and disputes that slowly mature into formal legal challenges. This “maturation........

© ThePrint