R.D. Kothari, J.—In a suit for specific performance, if the third party claims to have title or interest in suit property and applies for impleading it / him as party, then whether the said third party can be impleaded as party to the suit or not, is the question arises in this petition. Seemingly simple question is fiercely litigated issue, as it would appear from more than couple of recent judgments by the Supreme Court referred and relied on at the time of hearing by the learned advocates for the parties.

2. First about facts. Relevant facts for the purpose of present discussion are thus; the petitioner is the original plaintiff in Special Civil Suit No. 514 of 2007. The petitioner has instituted the said suit before the learned Senior Civil Judge, Vadodara. The said suit came to be instituted in pursuance to the agreement to sell entered into between defendant No. 1 and the petitioner on 9.9.2004. During the pendency of the said suit, present Respondent No. 3 – Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (for short ‘ONGC’) filed an application (Exh.22) to implead it as a party in the said suit. The said application came to be allowed by the trial court by passing short order. It is