VISHAL GROVER Vs. O.P.BATRA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) SHRI Vishal Grover and his brother Shri Neeraj Grover have filed the above suit seeking specific performance of a purported agreement to sell dated 24th October 2010 entered into by them with the Defendant Shri O.P. Batra in respect of the property at H -92/1, Shivaji Park, New Delhi - 110026 (the 'suit property'). According to the Plaintiffs it had been agreed that the total consideration would be Rs.30 lakhs out of which the Plaintiffs paid the Defendant Rs.1 lakh at the time of execution of the aforementioned "receipt ­cum -agreement to sell". The balance Rs.29 lakhs was to be paid by 24th January 2011 simultaneous with the execution of the sale deed. The Plaintiffs claim to have gone to the office of the Registrar on 24th January 2011 but the Defendant failed to turn up and in the facts and circumstances the present suit was filed. Along with the suit the Plaintiffs filed the so -called 'receipt -cum -agreement to sell dated 24th October 2010' which is a hand written document bearing the signature of the Defendant in two places one of which is on a revenue stamp.

(2.) AFTER service of summons in the suit and notice in the application for interim relief, an application IA No. 18190 of 2011 was filed under Order I Rule 10 CPC by the Plaintiffs praying for the impleadment of Smt. Ritu Batra, the wife of the Defendant and Vanshika Buildtech Ltd. ('VBL') through its Director Shri Udit Garg as Defendants. In the application it was stated that the Plaintiffs had learnt that under a sale deed the suit property had been sold to VBL. It was further averred that the Defendant was the owner only of the first floor of the suit property whereas he had executed a 'receipt -cum -agreement to sell' for the whole property. It was further averred that Smt. Ritu Batra was the actual owner of the ground floor. She had executed a sale deed dated 12th September 2011 in favour of the VBL in respect of the ground floor of the suit property. Notice in the said application was issued by the Court on 18th November 2011.

(3.) THE Defendant stated that he did not know Shri S.P. Arora, who also signed on the forged document as he had never met him. It is stated that when the Defendant met the Plaintiffs on 31st October 2010 they informed him that they would need a few more days to take a final call. On 5th November 2010 when the Defendant spoke to Plaintiff No.2 he stated that they were not interested in buying the suit property and that the Defendant could hold the said sum of Rs.1 lakh as trust and that they would arrange to collect the said amount at any time. It was thereafter that on 12th September 2011 the suit property was sold to VBL.