MOHAN MADAN Vs. SHEEL GULATI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Being the owner of property bearing Municipal No.BN -53, Shalimar Bagh (East), Delhi, Sheel Gulati entered into a written agreement to sell Ex.P -1 with Madan Mohan on October 05, 2005, recording therein that for a sale consideration in sum of Rs.2.39 crores the property shall be sold to Madan Mohan. Ex.P -1 records that the bargain was facilitated by a property dealer : Pardesi Properties; and it is the admitted case of the parties that one Raju was carrying on business as a property dealer under the name and style Pardesi Properties. Ex.P -1 is a printed proforma, in all probability got printed by Raju. It is captioned : earnest money receipt (Bayana Rasid). In the blank spaces in the proforma the name and address of the buyer and the seller as also the property which is the subject matter of the agreement, the total sale consideration, the earnest money received and the balance due have been filled up. The date by which the sale -deed had to be executed is recorded as April 20, 2006. At the bottom of the document, in hand it is written that the balance sale consideration shall be paid in three installments : (i) Rs.50 lacs on January 20, 2006; (ii) Rs.25 lacs on February 20, 2006; and by implication the balance when the sale -deed would be executed.

(2.) In hand it is recorded that earnest money -cum -part sale consideration in sum of Rs.25 lacs has been received. To quote, Ex.P -1 records : Bayana Rupay : 25,00,000/ - (Rupees Twenty Five Lacs only).

(3.) It is the common case of the parties that two bayana receipts were executed. Ex.P -1 being with the purchaser and Ex.D -1 with the seller. The printed proforma is the same and the handwritten contents in the blank spaces is the same. The fact in issue between the parties which emerges; evidenced from the pleadings is on account of the fact that there is no writing at the rear of the Bayana Receipt which has been produced by the buyer but the one produced by the seller has the following writing thereon: - "518934 The Nainital Bank Ltd. Dated 04/10/05 Name of Sheel Gulati by (Dharam Pal Malik)" is whether the cheque in question, Ex.DW -1/2 in sum of Rs.10 lacs forms part of the earnest money -cum -part sale consideration or whether the writing at the rear of Ex.D -1 is an addition in the Bayana receipt produced by Sheel Gulati and whether Sheel Gulati received the sum of Rs.25 lacs in cash when Ex.P -1 and Ex.D -1 were executed by the parties. The cheque had admittedly been dishonored.