Suit For Specific Performace Of Agreement To Sell To Be Filed In Court Having Jurisdiction Over Property : Supreme Court

The Supreme Court held that a suit for specific performance of an agreement to sell must be instituted in the Court within whose local jurisdiction the property -which is the subject of the agreement- was situated as per Section 16 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908.The Court rejected the argument that a specific performance decree can be enforced by the personal obedience of the defendant and hence such a suit was maintainable at the place where the defendant resided/carried out business in terms of the proviso to Section 16 CPC.The bench comprising Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice R Mahadevan held that the proviso to Section 16 was not applicable.Brief factsIn this case, the agreement was with respect to a suit situated in Gurgaon, Haryana. The plaintiff filed the suit in the original side of the Delhi High Court. A single bench of the High Court held the suit to be maintainable, applying the proviso to Section 16. In appeal, the division bench of the High Court held the suit to be not maintainable and returned the plaint for presentation before the competent court.Challenging the division bench's decision, the plaintiff appealed to the Supreme Court. Referring to the proviso of Section 16 of the Civil Procedure Code of 1908, the appellant contended that the courts in Delhi would have jurisdiction to grant specific relief because he sought a specific performance simpliciter without seeking a decree of possession, thus it required personal obedience of the defendant who lives and carries out his work in Delhi making the suit to be maintainable before the Delhi Court's.Section 16 of the CPC governs territorial jurisdiction, requiring suits related to immovable property, such as recovery, partition, foreclosure, or compensation for wrongs, to be filed in the court where the property is located. However, the proviso allows suits seeking relief or compensation for wrongs to immovable property held by the defendant to be filed either where the property is located or where the defendant resides, conducts business, or works, provided the relief can be obtained through the defendant's personal obedience. The Court rejected the appellant's argument, ruling that the case did not fall under the proviso to Section 16 CPC. It noted that the personal obedience of the defendant applies only when no action outside the court's jurisdiction is required. Since the property in question was in Gurugram, necessitating the defendant's presence there for executing the sale, the proviso to Section 16 CPC was deemed inapplicable. “The registration of the sale deed in the present case would have to take place at Gurugram as the suit property is situated there. The sale deed is not sought to be registered at Delhi and the implication of the grant of specific relief would be that the trial court will have to direct the defendants to move out of Delhi and go to Gurugram to get the sale deed registered. As rightly held by the Division Bench of the High Court, such a relief cannot be obtained entirely by the personal obedience of the defendants as the defendants will have to go to the jurisdiction of another court to get the decree executed.”, the Court observed.Court can't compel registration of sale agreement at a place beyond its jurisdiction The bench referred to the recent judgment in Babasaheb Dhondiba Kute v. Radhu Vithoba Barde which held that the conveyance by way of sale would take place only at the time of registration of a sale deed in accordance with Section 17 of the Registration Act, 1908. Till the time of such registration, no conveyance could be said to have taken place.Drawing from this precedent, the Court observed :"Thus, even if the suit for specific performance is decreed without a specific decree for transfer of the possession of the suit property, the same can be enforced only when the trial court directs the defendants to convey the suit property to the plaintiff by getting a sale deed registered with respect to the suit property, as it is only after registration that the transfer of title would take place from the defendants to the plaintiff. The registration of the sale deed in the present case would have to take place at Gurugram as the suit property is situated there. The sale deed is not sought to be registered at Delhi and the implication of the grant of specific relief would be that the trial court will have to direct the defendants to move out of Delhi and go to Gurugram to get the sale deed registered. As rightly held by the Division Bench of the High Court, such a relief cannot be obtained entirely by the personal obedience of the defendants as the defendants will have to go to the jurisdiction of another court to get the decree executed."Reference was made to the case of Harshad Chiman Lal Modi v. DLF Universal Ltd (2005) where the Court observed that “Section 16 of the CPC recognises a well-established principle that actions against res or property should be brought in the forum where such res is ...

Suit For Specific Performace Of Agreement To Sell To Be Filed In Court Having Jurisdiction Over Property : Supreme Court

Yash Mittal

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