Summary
Compulsory acquisition during a specific-performance suit did not limit a faultless purchaser to refund of the advance. On concurrent findings of a proved agreement and readiness and willingness, compensation could replace the performance decree and be measured by the acquisition award, with solatium and interest. The Court upheld that substitution but deducted Rs. 3 lakh for the vendor: Rs. 2.5 lakh for the value of pursuing compensation and Rs. 50,000 unpaid sale consideration.
Issues
- Whether acquisition during suit justified substituting acquisition-based compensation for specific performance.
- Whether absence of a specific compensation prayer restricted the purchaser to refund of the advance.
- What deductions from the acquisition compensation should be allowed to the vendor.
Provisions considered
- Section 21, as applicable to the suit, Specific Relief Act, 1963Applied compensation in substitution of specific performance after acquisition made transfer impossible without fault of the purchaser; rejected the pleading objection in the circumstances. (¶ 7-10)
Held
- Concurrent findings established the sale agreement, payment of Rs. 31.5 lakh out of Rs. 32 lakh and the purchaser’s readiness and willingness to pay the remaining Rs. 50,000. Acquisition before final decree made actual transfer impossible; it did not defeat the purchaser’s entitlement to substituted relief. (¶¶ 7, 7.1, 8-9)
- Following Jagdish Singh and Urmila Devi, acquisition compensation, solatium and accrued interest could measure substituted damages, with allowance for the vendor’s services, time, energy and litigation expense in pursuing the award. The purchaser was not confined to return of the advance. (¶¶ 8-9, 11)
- The objection that compensation had not specifically been prayed for was rejected because the decree was an alternative in lieu of the specific-performance decree. This ruling concerned supervening impossibility without purchaser fault. (¶¶ 8, 10)
- Although actual expenditure was not shown, the Court allowed Rs. 2.5 lakh towards pursuit of compensation and Rs. 50,000 unpaid consideration. The vendor was to receive Rs. 3 lakh from the deposited award and the purchaser the balance with interest and solatium. (¶ 11-13)
Result
Appeal partly allowed only to deduct Rs. 3 lakh for the vendor from the acquisition award; the balance, including interest and solatium, payable to the purchaser. High Court judgment otherwise confirmed; no costs.