DHANVIR SINGH Vs. GURINDER PAL SINGH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The present revision petition under Article 227 of the Constitution of India has been filed against the order passed by the learned Additional District Judge, Patiala allowing the appeal filed by the respondent Gurinder Pal Singh under Order 39 Rules 1 and 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure (for short the Code). Learned Lower Appellate Court was pleased to stay the alienation of the suit land till the disposal of the suit.

(2.) The facts of the case as borne out from the record are that plaintiff- respondent Gurinder Pal Singh had filed a suit for specific performance of the agreement to sell dated 25.1.1994 directing the petitioner-defendant to execute and get the sale-deed registered of116 acres of land i.e. 1/5th share of 324 bighas 15 biswas of land situated in village Ghazipur, Tehsil Dera Bassi, District Patiala. The case of the plaintiff-respondent was that the petitioner-defendant had agreed to sell the said land to the plaintiff for a total consideration of Rs. 8,80,000/- i.e. Rs. 55,000/- per acre. It was further the case of the petitioner that a sum of Rs. 4,70,000/- was paid in advance at the time of execution of agreement and out of this a sum of Rs. 1,00,000/-was paid through cheque drawn on State Bank of Patiala and remaining amount of Rs. 3,70,000/-was paid in cash. The case further pleaded was that said land was in possession of some other person against whom the petitioner-defendant had been fighting litigation and that he had won up to the Hon'ble Supreme Court and that the petitioner-defendant had intimated that he had initiated legal proceedings for eviction of the person in possession of the land and sale-deed shall be executed as and when the possession is taken from the said person. It was the further case of the plaintiff-respondent that in spite of his offer to pay the balance consideration the petitioner-defendant was not executing the sale deed. The plaintiff-respondent further averred that he had approached the police for registration of a case against the petitioner-defendant and on his complaint F.I.R. No. 300 dated 24.10.2004 under Sections 420 and 120B I.P.C. was registered at Police Station, Mohali. It is the case of the plaintiff-respondent that in spite of registration of the case still the sale-deed was not executed and thereafter having been left with no alternative present suit was filed for specific, performance of the agreement to sell.

(3.) The suit was contested by the present petitioner and he denied the agreement to sell. It was further the case of the petitioner before the learned trial Court that he had only 1/10th share in the land mentioned and therefore, there was no occasion to dispose of 16 acres of land of which he was not the owner. The claim of the petitioner was that in 1993 he had agreed to sell 8 acres of land in favour of the plaintiff at the rate of Rs. 1 lac per acre out of which a sum of Rs. 1 lac was taken as earnest money through cheque. It was his case that thereafter the plaintiff-respondent never approached him. The agreement dated 25.1.1994 was alleged to be forged and fabricated document. The receipt of payment of Rs. 3,70,000/-was also denied. The case set up by the petitioner-defendant was that this agreement has been forged by the respondent-plaintiff while he was in custody in pursuance to the registration of the case.