Supreme Court upholds 1979 land sale, reverses High Court refund order

The case concerns a dispute over a 1975 agreement to sell agricultural land, where the Supreme Court had to decide whether to uphold a specific performance decree that allowed the buyer to take possession decades ago, or to reverse it and order a refund of the advance payment as directed by the High Court.

Who it concerns: Appellants: Sobaran Singh (Dead) Through Lrs.; Respondents: Gordhan Singh (Dead) Thr. Lrs.; Bench: Justice B. Pardiwala and Justice K. Vinod Chandran.

What the court decided

• Allowed the appeal and reversed the decisions of the First Appellate Court and the High Court.
• Restored the order of the Trial Court which decreed the suit for specific performance.
• Directed that the plaintiff's possession of the land, held since 1979, cannot be interfered with.
• Ordered the refund of Rs. 15,00,000/- (deposited by the defendant after the High Court judgment) to the defendant, along with any accrued interest, within one month.
• Rejected any pending applications.

Also in the document

• The Court noted that the sale was executed through the Court in 1979, and the plaintiff has been in possession since that year.
• The High Court had previously enhanced the refund of the advance money from Rs. 5,000/- to Rs. 15,00,000/- purportedly to maintain equity, a decision the Supreme Court reversed.
• The Court cited the long lapse of time (over four decades) and the plaintiff's continued possession as factors favoring the specific performance decree.