RAM SWAROOP SINGH Vs. KARAN SINGH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) HEARD Sri V.K. Kohli, the learned senior counsel duly assisted by Sri I.P. Kohli, the learned counsel for the appellants defendants and Sri Jitendra Chaudhary, the learned counsel for the respondents plaintiffs.

(2.) THE plaintiffs respondents filed a suit for specific performance of a registered agreement to sell. The plaintiffs contended that by a registered agreement, the defendant No. 1 Primate Singh had agreed to sell the land to the plaintiffs measuring 2.90 acres of land in Khasra No. 48 of village Jamniwala, Tahsil Kashipur for a sum of Rs. 20,300. It was contended that a sum of Rs. 7000/- was paid as advance and the balance amount was to be paid at the time of the execution of the sale deed. The plaintiffs contended that the defendant was requested several times to execute the sale deed, which fell on deaf ears and, ultimately, it was found that the defendant No. 1 had sold the land in question to defendant Nos. 2 and 3 by means of a registered sale deed dated 06.09.1983 selling 1.60 acres of land and by another sale deed dated 12.12.1983, the remaining land was sold to defendant Nos. 2, 3 and 4 for Rs. 28,000/-. The plaintiffs accordingly prayed that the defendants be directed to execute the sale deed and deliver the possession of the land to the plaintiffs. During the pendency of the suit, the defendant No. 1 Pritam Singh died and his legal heir Smt. Bhagwati Devi was substituted, who filed the written statement and submitted that the plaintiff No. 2 Murari Singh was her brother and that plaintiff No. 1 Karan Singh was a friend of Murari Singh. The defendant admitted that a registered agreement to sell the land in question was executed since it was apprehended that the original defendant late Primate Singh, i.e. the vendor, would sell the land in question to a third party, an agreement to sell was executed without payment of any consideration.

(3.) THE trial court, on the basis of the pleadings, framed various issues and, after appreciating the evidence that was brought on record, decreed the suit and directed the defendants to execute the sale deed. The trial court held that the plaintiff Murari Singh admitted that an agreement to sell was executed by the original vendor late Primate Singh and that the signatures on the said document were of that late Primate Singh and that the said agreement was duly registered before the Sub-Registrar's Office. The trial court further found that the legal heir of defendant No. 1 also admitted in her written statement about the execution of the agreement to sell and, therefore, concluded that the original vendor had executed a registered agreement to sell. The trial court further found that the defendant Nos. 2 to 4 are not the bona fide purchasers and were deemed to have notice of the agreement to sell. The trial court further found that since the defendants did not enquire from the office of Sub-Registrar, the defendants had deemed knowledge of the alleged agreement to sell. The trial court further found that on the other hand, the plaintiffs were always ready and willing to perform their part of the agreement and, in this regard, had issued notices dated 30.05.1983 and 04.10.1983 requesting the defendant No. 1 to execute the sale deed. The trial court further found that in spite of the receipt of the said notices, the sale deed was not executed in favour of the plaintiffs.