Specific Relief Act, 1877

The appellant, T.M. Balakrishna Mudaliar, purchased agricultural lands from Abdul Salam and Razia Begum and was assigned their right of repurchase under agreements dated 15‑April‑1963. The respondents, Satyanarayana Rao and his mother Pushpavathi Ammal, refused to execute reconveyance deeds, prompting Mudaliar to sue f…

The appellant, Poona Ram, sought to overturn a High Court judgment that had set aside a First Appellate Court order dismissing his suit for declaration of title and possession filed by Moti Ram. Moti Ram claimed possessory title based on alleged long possession but had no documentary title, while the defendants relied …

The appeals arise from civil suits concerning title to the disputed Ayodhya structure and challenge the validity of the Acquisition of Certain Area at Ayodhya Act, 1993. The petitioners sought to refer the matter to a Constitution Bench, arguing that the observations in Dr. M. Ismail Faruqui v. Union of India (1994) – …

The case involved a dispute over a plot of land originally owned by Muniyappa, who executed a General Power of Attorney (GPA) and an agreement to sell in favour of A. Saraswathi in 1986. After Muniyappa's death in 1997, Saraswathi, as GPA holder, executed a registered sale deed in 1998 transferring the property to her …

Bal Krishna and another filed a suit for specific performance of a reconveyance agreement concerning a house that had been sold in 1952. The plaintiffs claimed they were ready and willing to pay the consideration and sought a deed of reconveyance, while the defendant (deceased) denied the existence of the reconveyance …

The Supreme Court examined an appeal filed by tenants challenging a Bombay High Court order that dismissed their writ petition under Article 226. The petition sought a writ of certiorari against the landlord’s eviction suit, a pure civil dispute between private parties. The Court held that writ jurisdiction is a remedy…

The plaintiff entered into an agreement to purchase land, paid earnest money and was required to pay the balance consideration and obtain execution of the sale deed within two months of the decree for specific performance. The trial court decreed specific performance, directing the defendants to execute the deed upon p…

Anthony was inducted into possession of a shed by the owner under an unregistered lease deed for five years and paid monthly rent. The ownership later passed to the respondents who sued for eviction; the trial court dismissed the tenancy claim and decreed eviction. On first appeal, the district court held that despite …

The appellant, SMS Tea Estates, entered into a 30‑year lease deed with the respondent, Chandmari Tea Co., which contained Clause 35 mandating arbitration of disputes. The lease deed was not registered, though registration was compulsory, and it was also not duly stamped. The appellant sought appointment of an arbitrato…

Shyam Singh filed a suit for specific performance of a 1971 agreement of repurchase of land against Daryao Singh (deceased) and other respondents. The trial court and appellate courts dismissed the suit, holding that the right of repurchase was a personal right of the original sellers (defendants 2‑4) and could not be …

The State of Andhra Pradesh had granted mining leases to its corporation and, with its permission, sub‑leases to private parties. The State later withdrew permission for the sub‑leases, leading the sub‑lessees to file writ petitions alleging illegal cancellation and seeking compensation. The High Court held the sub‑lea…

Vithalbhai Pvt. Ltd., the lessor of a lease that expired on 24 June 1984, served a notice to the lessee demanding vacant possession and filed a suit for eviction on 16 April 1984, twelve weeks before the lease term ended. The defendant argued that the suit was premature and not maintainable. The High Court Single Judge…

The appellant (original defendant) challenged the High Court's order that an unregistered Agreement to Sell, executed on 10‑09‑2013, could be admitted as evidence in a suit for specific performance. The dispute centered on whether the Tamil Nadu Amendment Act, 2012, which made agreements to sell immovable property of R…

The appellants sought a declaration of title to a property in Pondicherry, alleging that a prior sale by a Hindu widow who held only a life estate was void. The trial court dismissed the suit for lack of a claim for possession, a decision upheld by the High Court, which also held that the widow had acquired absolute ti…

The instant appeals arose from five suits between 1950 and 1989 over a 1500 sq yard land in Ayodhya, claimed by Hindus as the birthplace of Lord Ram (Ram Janmabhumi) and by Muslims as the site of the Babri Masjid. The Allahabad High Court had directed a three-way partition of the disputed site, which the Supreme Court …

The Nagar Palika Parishad, Mihona issued notices under the Madhya Pradesh Municipalities Act, 1961 to Ramnath for encroaching on a public road. Ramnath filed a suit seeking declaration of title over the land and a permanent injunction, claiming ancestral ownership. The trial court and two appellate courts held the suit…

In a partition suit, the defendants sought to introduce two unregistered documents (Exhibit B‑21, a deed of memorandum, and Exhibit B‑22, an agreement) to prove the division of property. The trial court and the Andhra Pradesh High Court held the documents inadmissible, reasoning that they were compulsorily registerable…

The appellant purchased a suit‑property from the vendors by a sale deed executed on 9 September 1970 and registered it on 26 October 1970. Before the registration, the respondent filed a money suit on 13 September 1970 and obtained attachment before judgment of the property on 17 September 1970, later obtaining a decre…

The plaintiff, Som Dev, claimed a right of pre-emption over a half‑share of immovable property, relying on a decree dated 10‑10‑1980 that recognised a family settlement whereby co‑owner Sheo Ram had relinquished his share in favour of the plaintiff and his brother. The defendants argued that the decree created a new ri…

The case concerned a house sold by Smt. Amir Jehan Begam to Shakir Ahmad Khan, who executed an Agreement of Reconveyance granting the vendor a right to repurchase the property within three years. Shakir transferred his interest to the appellant, while the vendor’s son, Irfan Hasan Khan, later assigned his repurchase ri…

The case concerned a conditional sale deed executed in 1977 by Kishori Lal Sahu and his son in favour of Indira Devi, which contained a right of repurchase if the vendors returned the consideration by July 1984. Kishori Lal later executed a gift deed in 1983 transferring his property to his daughter‑in‑law Veena Gupta …

The appellant filed a suit for specific performance of a 2003 agreement to sell land, relying on an unregistered sale deed, a registered power of attorney, and an earlier unregistered 1995 agreement. The respondents challenged the admissibility of these documents, arguing that the 2003 deed required registration under …

The dispute arose from a partition of family property where the respondent sought a declaration of title and eviction of the appellants. The appellants relied on a family settlement document (Khararunama) dated 15‑04‑1986 and a receipt of Rs.2,00,000 as evidence of the parties' past arrangements. The trial court admitt…

Ram Daan filed a suit seeking a permanent injunction to prevent Urban Development Trust from dispossessing him of a 4,914‑sq‑yard plot, claiming uninterrupted possession since 1942. The respondent asserted that the land belonged to the State of Rajasthan and that the appellant had been evicted in 1965 under Section 91 …