Specific Relief Act, 1963 – s.22 – Executing court declined to handover the possession of the suit property to the respondents-plaintiffs (decree holders) holding that though there was a decree for specific performance no relief as regards putting the plaintiffs in possession of the suit property was granted – Order set aside by High Court – Challenged by subsequent purchasers:
Held: In cases where the possession of the suit property is exclusively with the contracting party, then a decree for specific performance simpliciter, without specifically providing for delivery of possession, may give complete relief to the decree holder – However, in cases where the relief of possession cannot be effectively granted to the decree-holder without specifically claiming relief for possession, for example, in cases where the property agreed to be conveyed is jointly held by the defendant with other persons, or cases where after the contract the property has passed in possession of a third person, then the plaintiff, in order to obtain complete and effective relief, must claim the relief of transfer of possession over the property – Section 22 allows the plaintiff to amend the plaint to include a claim for the relief of possession, partition, etc. at “any stage of the proceeding” including the stage of execution of the decree by the executing court – Special Leave Petition dismissed – Transfer of Property Act, 1882 – s.55. [Paras 13, 16]
As published in the Supreme Court Reports, Supreme Court of India. Headnotes prepared by: Divya Pandey. Text from the Indian Supreme Court Judgments open data set (Dattam Labs), CC BY 4.0.
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