ORDER

Leave granted.

We have heard learned counsel on both sides.

2. The admitted facts are that the builder impleaded as one of the respondents, after obtaining the requisite sanction, built 8 floors (including ground floor) on November 22, 1984 as per the guidelines which permitted 150 F.A.R. with the height restriction of 80 feet. The construction of the building known as "White House", came to be made and the possession of the flats was delivered to the purchasers, the appellant being one of them. At a later stage, it was found that the builder constructed the building in violation of the Regulations. Consequently, the flats of the top four floors were demolished. The demolition came to be challenged by way of the writ petition in the High Court. The High Court dismissed the same. Thus this appeal by special leave.

3. Before we go into the controversy involved, it would be appropriate and advantageous at this stage to refer and discuss the law of equity and its role in the field of tort and equity.

4. In Hanbury & Martin s Modern Equity (14th Edn. - 1993) by Jill E. Martin, at page 3 it is stated, on the "General Principles of Equity" that "equity is a word with many meanings. In a wide sense, it means that which is fair and just, moral and ethical; but its legal meaning is much narrower." "Developed system of law has ever been assisted by the introduction of a discretionary power to do justice in particular cases where the strict rules of law cause hardship. Rules formulated to deal with particular situations may subsequently work unfairly as society develops. Equity is the body of rules which evolved to mitigate the severity of the rules of the common law." Principles of justice and conscience are the basis of equity jurisdiction, but it must not be thought that the contrast between law and equity is one between a system of strict rules and one of broad discretion. Equity has no monopoly of the pursuit of justice. Equitable principles are rather too often bandied about it common law courts as though the Chancellor still had only the length of his own foot to measure when coming to a conclusion." Lord Radcliffe, speaking of common lawyers, said that equity lawyers were "both surprised and discomfited by the plentitude of jurisdiction and the imprecision of rules that are attributed to equity by their more enthusiastic colleagues". Just as the common law has escaped from its early formalism, so over the years equity has established strict rules for the application of its principles. Indeed, at one stage the rules became so fixed that a "rigor aequitatis" developed; equity itself displayed the very defect which it was designed to remedy. We will see that today some aspects of equity are strict and technical, while others leave considerable discretion to the court.

5. "Hudson s Building and Engineering Contracts (10th Edn.) by I.N. Duncan and Wallace defines "building contract" as "an agreement under which a person undertakes for reward to carry out, for another person, variously referred to as the building owner or employer, works of a building or civil engineering character." In the typical case, the work will be carried out upon land of the employer or building owner, though in some special cases obligation to build may arise by contract where that is not so, e.g., under building leases and contracts for the sale of land with a house in the course of erection upon it. M.A. Sujan in "Law Relating to Building Contracts" (2nd Edn.) quotes in para 3.3 Keating s definition of "building contracts" according to which they include "any contract where one person agrees for valuable consideration to carry out building or engineering works for another". He also quotes Gajria s definition thus : "Building contract is defined as contract containing an exact and minute description of the terms, account or remuneration of particulars for the construction of a building . He further quotes thus : "A building or engineering contract is a le