TRIBHUWAN DUTT TRIPATHI Vs. RAMJI TIWARI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This first appeal by the defendant arises out of a suit for specific performance of an agreement entered into by the defendant for sale of his land to the plaintiff respondent.

(2.) Put in brief the plaintiff's case is that by an agreement dated 20-5-74 the defendant had agreed to transfer his land situate in plaintiff's village for a consideration of Rs.91,000.00 within one year. A sum of Rs. 500/ - was paid as advance and the balance was payable at registration. The plaintiff was always ready and willing to perform his part of the contract but the defendant committed its breach and failed to execute the sale deed in spite of written demand through notice.

(3.) The defendant on the other hand contested the claim and pleaded that the agreement sued upon is not the real agreement which has been suppressed and the suit has been filed on the basis of a fictitious document by forging his signatures. He, therefore, denied having executed this agreement. It was further pleaded that there was another contemporaneous agreement of sale by one Kapil Muni and Smt. Dhaneshra in favour of defendant's son Nitya Nand, the responsibility for the performance of which had been taken by the plaintiff. According to the defendant, the agreement with defendant was contingent on successful performance of the other and since Kapil Muni and another backed out from their commitment the plaintiff also cannot legally enforce the agreement against the defendant. Besides this the capacity and readiness and willingness of the plaintiff was also disputed. The case of the defendant also was that in the actual agreement which he had executed there was a clear stipulation that this agreement was contingent on the other and the two were not independent of each other.