( 1 ) THIS appeal by the defendant arises out of a suit filed by the plaintiff- respondents for specific performance of a contract of sale directing the defendant to execute a sale deed in the name of plaintiff No. 2 on receipt of a sum of Rs. 20,000/- , the balance amount of sale consideration, from plaintiff No. 1 in respect of the properties detailed in the schedule at- tached at the foot of the plaint. The case set up by the plaintiffs was that the defendant was the owner and bhumidhar of the property in suit which included a big kothi, abadi land, kitchen garden and a grove in village Namaksair, Pergana and Tahsil Sadar, district Pratapgarh, He decided to stay permanently at Lucknow and started disposing of his property lying in district Pratapgarh, He transferred several items of property to plaintiff No, 1, his brother Avadesh Singh and Harkesh bahadur Singh and to other persons also. The defendant used to settle the sale transaction and the terms thereof orally at Lucknow and used to instruct his Mukhtar-am Sri Bharat Singh to execute the sale deeds and get them registered at Pratapgarh. The defendant approached plaintiff no. 1 to purchase the property in sui