ASHUTOSH DAS Vs. DHIRARANI NANDAN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is an appeal by the plaintiffs from a judgment and decree of the lower Court whereby their suit for specific performance was dismissed. The agreement was entered into by and between the plaintiffs and the first three defendants, being mother and two daughters. It appears that the common agent of both sides was one Sushil Kumar Dutta, husband of Mira, one of the daughters. Since the filing of the appeal the mother Tara Sundari has expired. The agreement was oral, and was entered into in May 1977. For rendering his services the son-in-law, Sushil Kumar Dutta was himself to get from the purchasers a sum of Rs. 10,000/- but the consideration for purchase of the land was Rs. 70,000/-. At the time of conclusion of the contract a sum of Rs. 1,500/- was paid. The agreement was still kept oral. At that time the entirety of the land was under occupation of various occupiers and tenants and some suits were also pending. In paragraph 7 of the plaint it is alleged that the plaintiffs bought the land with all those problems being known to them.

(2.) The plaintiffs are admittedly land developers. After the agreement for sale they obtained separate permissions from the Urban Land Ceiling Authorities for conveyance by the said three defendants. They also started negotiating with the occupiers of the land and specially with one Chakraborty, a fisherman, whose pond the plaintiffs filled up. There are other defendants in the suit.

(3.) The draft conveyance for approval was sent to the said defendants sometime in or about June 1978, which was promptly returned as approved with an endorsement that the completion should be made within one month. The endorsement doesn't appear in the Paper Book but we have examined and seen it in the original exhibit 4 series. But completion was not so made. Quite some time later in the month of August 1979 the plaintiffs wrote a letter alleging suppression on the part of the defendants. They said, however, that they were willing to conclude the contract nonetheless.