1. The 2nd defendant for self and as power-of-attorney-holder of defendants 2 to 5 entered into an agreement Ext. Al dated 23-5-1977 for sale of the suit property 1 acre 11 cents in extent to the plaintiff for a consideration of Rs. 60,000/-. The payment of advance Rs. 20,000/-is acknowledged in Ext. Al. As per the terms of the agreement the balance Rs. 40,000/- is to be paid and the sale transaction is to be completed within a period of two months. The property belonged to Kuncheria T. Marattukulam, father of defendants 1 to 4 and the husband of the 5th defendant. Ext. Al asserts that on the death of Kuncheria T. Marattukulam the property has devolved on defendants 1 to 5. The plaintiff issued notice Ext. A4 on 21-10-1977 demanding performance of the contract by the defendants. Exts. AS to A8 are subsequent notices for the same purpose. On failure of the defendants to execute the sale deed, the plaintiff filed the present suit for specific performance of the contract. The defendants raised various pleas in answer to the plaint. For the purpose of this appeal it is necessary to advert only to two of the contentions raised by the defendants viz , (1) that the time fixed