IN THE HIGH COURT AT CALCUTTA
TAPABRATA CHAKRABORTY, PARTHA SARATHI CHATTERJEE, JJ.
Sourav Sarkar - Appellant
Versus
Hirak Ranjan Sarkar & Anr. - Respondents
FMA No. 437 of 2022
Decided On : 02-12-2022
Code of Civil Procedure,1908 - Section 151 - Order 39 - Rules 1 and 2 - Suit property - Agreement for sale - Seeking partition and separate possession - Suit for specific performance - Whether plaintiffs shall be entitled to enforce specific performance of contract or not - Whether suit will fail due to defect of party is also a question required to be decided in trial - Held, If third party interest is allowed to be created in suit property, then mischief, hardship and inconvenience of plaintiff would be greater than the injuries which respondent no.1 may suffer if he is restrained from transferring or alienating the suit property during pendency of suit - It prima facie appears that respondent no.1 had entered into two agreements to sell out suit property and now, to enforce specific performance of contract, appellant has filed this suit - Admittedly, in both agreements, respondent no.1 had put his signatures - Court are of considered view that it would be proper to pass an interlocutory order of injunction to restrain respondent no.1 from creating any third party interest in suit property during pendency of suit - Appeal disposed of.
JUDGMENT :
Partha Sarathi Chatterjee, J.
1. The instant appeal has been preferred assailing the order no. 26 dated 13.12.2021 passed by the learned Civil Judge, Senior Division, Chanchal, Malda in O.C. no. 187 of 2020 whereby prayer for an interim order made by taking out an application under Order 39 Rules 1 and 2 read with Section 151 of the Code of Civil Procedure (hereinafter referred to as CPC) was turned down.
2. Factual conspectus leading to filing of this appeal is that the plaintiff no.1/appellant and the plaintiff no.2/respondent no.2 herein filed a suit for specific performance of contract against the defendant/respondent no.1 herein. Along with the plaint, the plaintiffs filed an application under Order 39 Rules 1 and 2 read with Section 151 of CPC.
3. In the said application, it was recited that the defendant (hereinafter referred to as the respondent no.1) happens to be original owner of the suit property who had executed one agreement for sale to sell out the suit property at a consideration money of Rs.94 lakhs to the appellant and one Kollol Kanti Sarkar (hereinafter referred to as Kollol) on 6.2.2012 and at the time of execution of the agreement, respondent no.1 accepted Rs. 10 lakhs as advance. In the aforesaid agreement, it was agreed by and between the parties that within 6.6.2012, the plaintiff no.1 and Kollol would pay rest consideration money to the respondent no.1, who upon receipt of such amount would execute the deed of sale in their favour. In the meantime on 14.3.2012, brother of the respondent no.1 filed one suit against him seeking partition and separate possession of the suit property and the said suit was registered as partition suit no. 120 of 2012 and before 6.6.2012, when the plaintiff no.1 and Kollol approached the respondent no. 1 to perform his part of contract, the said respondent no.1 disclosed that due to pendency of the suit, it would not be possible for him to perform his part of contract. In the application it was further stated that on 17.1.2017, the said partition suit was decided in favour of the respondent no.1 but the judgment and decree passed in the partition suit was impugned in one appeal before this Court, which was registered as F.A.T no. 176 of 2017. Due to pendency of the litigation, the respondent no.1 could not perform his part of contract. Kollol did not want to wait for any further period and then on 22.8.2016, respondent no.1 and Kollol executed one agreement, wherein it was agreed by them that respondent no.1 would execute deed of sale in respect of suit property in favour of plaintiff no.1 and Manoj Agarwal, respondent no. 2 herein in place and instead of Kollol and it was also contended that thereafter, the respondent no.1 took Rs. 25 lakhs and hence, it was claimed that as per two agreements, the respondent no.1 was to execute and register the deed of sale on receipt of rest consideration money being Rs. 59 lakhs since in the meantime, the appeal pending before this Court was disposed of. In the said application, it was also claimed that in the suit property there was a garage which was being used by appellant since 6.2.2012 and since, the respondent no.1 did not come out to perform his part of contract, the appellant and respondent no.2 herein by giving two legal notices dated 24.8.2020 and 12.10.2020 asked the respondent no.1 to execute and register the deed on 15.10.2020 at the office of the Registrar concerned but the respondent no.1 did not turn up to execute and register the deed which forced the appellant and respondent no.2 herein to file the suit. In the application, it was claimed that if the respondent no.1 creates any third party interest in respect of the suit property, plaintiffs would suffer irreversible injury and hence, an appropriate interim order was required to be passed.
4. Record reveals that defendant/ respondent no. 1 herein resisted the application by filing written objection wherein denying all the averments made in the said application, it
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The respondent's establishment of a prima facie case for the grant of injunction based on the existence of the agreement and the balance of convenience.
A plaintiff's delay in filing a suit impacts the entitlement to injunction and specific performance, as timely prosecution and adherence to evidential requirements are essential for equitable relief.
The court emphasized that failure to demonstrate readiness and willingness to perform contractual obligations justifies the denial of interim injunctions in specific performance cases.
A petitioner can be granted temporary injunction to prevent the alienation of property during the pendency of a suit for specific performance while establishing possession under a registered agreemen....
The main legal point established in the judgment is the requirement to prove readiness and willingness to perform essential terms of the contract within a reasonable time, the significance of the tim....
(1) Merely because property is sold on lesser consideration then previous one, it does not ipso-facto make subsequent transaction illegal or malafide – Unregistered agreement to sell can be considere....
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