LADDU GOPE Vs. MANOJ KUER SHARMA AND ORS.

JUDGEMENT

(1.) These three appeals arise out of the three judgments and decrees dated 23.12.1986, passed by Sub-Judge-VII, Patna in T.S. No. 73/83, T.S. No. 74/83 and T.S. No. 75/83 by which the decree for specific performance of contract has been granted to the respective plaintiffs against the common defendant with regard to the parts of the same plot belonging to him. All the three appeals have been filed by the defendant Laddu Gope as appellant. As common questions of law and fact are involved in all the three appeals, the prayer of the parties to the appeals for analogous hearing of three appeals was allowed and accordingly the aforesaid three appeals have been heard analogously and are being disposed of by this common judgment. In all the three suits i.e. T.S. No. 73/83, T.S. No. 74/83, T.S. No. 75/83, the defendants are common and the relief for specific performance of contract has been prayed against the defendant no. 1, Laddu Gope on the basis of the three registered agreements for sale executed by him in favour of the plaintiffs. The plaintiffs also belong to one family and are the sons and wife of Nand Kumar Sharma. In the T.S. No. 73/83 Manoj Kumar Sharma son of Nand Kumar Sharma is the plaintiff and has claimed specific performance of contract against the defendant no. 1 on the basis of the registered agreement for sale dated 14.8.1982 by which 15 Dhurs, 15 Dhurkis of Plot No. 869 of Khata No. 66 has been agreed to be sold by the defendant no. 1 for Rs. 37,800/- out of which Rs. 10,000/- has been paid as the advance money. The T.S. No. 74/83 has been filed by the plaintiff Ashwani Kumar Sharma son of Nand Kumar Sharma claiming for the decree for specific performance of contract on the basis of the registered agreement for sale dated 3.8.1982 by which the defendant no. 1 has agreed to sell 1 katha of Plot No. 869 of Khata No. 66 for total consideration money of Rs. 48,000/-, after receiving Rs. 12,000/- by way of earnest money. The T.S. No. 75/83 has been filed by Smt. Indramani Sharma wife of Nand Kumar Sharma claiming specific performance of contract on the basis of the registered agreement for sale dated 3.8.1982 by which defendant no. 1 has agreed to sell 1 katha of Plot No. 869 of Khata No. 66 for total amount of 48,000/-, after receiving Rs. 12,000/- as advance money.

(2.) The plaintiffs' case in all the three suits, in short, is that the defendant no. 1-Laddu Gope is the owner of the suit land and has agreed to sell the same with the plaintiffs and has executed the three registered deeds of agreement for sale after taking advance money. The plaintiffs have further alleged that the sale deeds were agreed to be executed within three months after the permission from the authorities under the Urban Land Ceiling Act but after the grant of permission, the defendant no. 1 started avoiding the execution of the sale deeds as agreed even after the repeated requests. Then the legal notices as well as telegrams were sent by the plaintiffs to him reiterating the request to execute the sale deeds. Ultimately the plaintiffs got a notice published in daily Hindi Newspaper "Aryawart" but the defendant no. 1 even thereafter failed to perform his part of contract by executing the sale deeds in favour of the plaintiffs. The plaintiffs have also averred in the plaint their continuous readiness and willingness to perform their part of the contract. On these basic facts, the three suits were filed seeking the relief.

(3.) The defendant no. 1 in his written statement has not denied the execution and registration of the deeds of agreements for sale in favour of the plaintiffs by him for the suit land but has alleged that the same have been obtained by Nand Kumar Sharma father of the plaintiffs in T.S. No. 73/83 and T.S. No. 74/83 and husband of the plaintiff in T.S. No. 75/83 by intoxicating him with wine. It is the case of the defendant no. 1 that he has got addiction for wine and taking its advantage, Nand Kumar Sharma with his sons and wife thoroughly intoxicated him and got the deeds executed by him without letting him know or understand the contents of the deeds. The defendant no. 1 has further stated that the land subject matter of the three agreements for sale are the joint family properties of the defendant no. 1 in which his other family members have also got shares. It has also been stated that although the agreement with Nand Kumar Sharma was to sell the suit land at the rate of Rs. 1,00,000/- per katha but by playing fraud the rate had been shown in the deeds of agreement for sale to be only Rs. 48,000/- per katha. The plaintiffs' readiness and willingness to perform their part of the contract has also been challenged alleging that the plaintiffs had no ready money for payment of the balance amount of the consideration.