Janardan Sahai, J.

Bans Bahadur Singh and Vikrama Singh, Respondents in this appeal filed a suit for specific performance of a contract of sale dated 20.2.1985 executed by the first Defendant, the Appellant Krishna Gopal Pandey. Alternatively, refund of advance money together with interest was also sought.

2. Before the contract of sale dated 20.2.1985, the subject matter of this appeal, Krishna Gopal Pandey had executed a contract of sale dated 26.11.1984 in respect of a different plot in favour of the Plaintiffs. It is not disputed that the second Defendant Smt. Damyanti Devi is the wife of the first Defendant Krishna Gopal Pandey who had executed a sale deed dated 27.11.1984 in her favour in respect of the land which was the subject-matter of the contracts of sale dated 26.11.1984 and 20.2.1985. In this suit, the first Defendant Krishna Gopal Pandey admitted his signatures on the agreement to sell and also admitted having received a sum of Rs. 40,000 from the Plaintiff but his case was that the document dated 20.2.1985 was obtained from him by practising fraud in that he had merely taken a loan from the Plaintiff and intended to execute a mortgage deed in security but th