JAYESH SANGHRAJKA & CO. Chartered Accountants From the Research Desk______________________________________

1 

his  letter  is  for private circulation only. The  letter  is brought by a group of professionals – Batgach. These professionals  represent  several well  established Chartered Accountancy Firms.  The  letter  is  being brought only with the intention to give information & not to solicit clients or business against the guidelines issued by The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. 

Drafting an Agreement

What is a document?

Ordinarily the word "document" denotes a textual record. Increasingly sophisticated

attempts to provide access to the rapidly growing quantity of available documents raised

questions about which should be considered a "document”, writing is a document, Words

printed, lithographed or photographed are document, a map or plan is a document, an

inscription on a metal plate or stone is a document, a caricature is a document.

What is an agreement?

According to Sec.2(e) of Indian Contract Act, 1872, every promise and every set of

promises,forming the consideration for each other, is an agreement. It is clear from the

definition thatpromise is an agreement

What is drafting?

Drafting may be defined as the synthesis of law and fact in a language form. Perfection

cannot be achieved in drafting unless the nexus between law, facts and language is fully

understood. In fact drafting can be described as the practice, technique or skill involved in

preparing legal documents that set forth the rights of the parties.

JAYESH SANGHRAJKA & CO. Chartered Accountants From the Research Desk______________________________________

2 

his  letter  is  for private circulation only. The  letter  is brought by a group of professionals – Batgach. These professionals  represent  several well  established Chartered Accountancy Firms.  The  letter  is  being brought only with the intention to give information & not to solicit clients or business against the guidelines issued by The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. 

Points to be kept in mind while drafting agreements

Prepare an outline.

Establish a single principle of division and use that principle to divide the subject

matter into major topics.

Arrange the items in a logical sequence.

Give appropriate headings.

Remember the readers of the document in mind when drafting.

The text should be in clear writing.

Use concrete words and be concise.

Avoid gender-specific words as far as possible.

Write in short sentences.

Use proper punctuations.

Avoid drafting in the passive voice and use active voice as it is more direct and

vigorous than the passive voice.

As far as possible put statements in a positive form and make definite assertions.

Avoid unnecessary, hesitating and non-committal language.

Express co-ordinate ideas in similar form.

Keep related words together as the position of words in a sentence is the principal

means of showing their relationship.

In summary, keep to one tense, especially the present tense.

The emphatic words of a sentence should be placed at the end