Where the performance of a contract becomes impossible or unlawful by an event which the promisor could not prevent, under Section 56 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872 the contract:

Section 56 embodies the doctrine of frustration: a contract to do an act that becomes impossible, or unlawful by reason of an event the promisor could not prevent, becomes void when the act becomes impossible or unlawful. Neither party need take action for the discharge to operate. Courts apply the doctrine narrowly, only where performance is truly barred, not where it has merely become more expensive or onerous. Where the frustration is self-induced, the doctrine cannot be invoked by the defaulting party.