Barasat Eye Hospital & Ors. v. Kaustabh Mondal
Background
The appellants bought a plot of land in West Bengal for a stated price of Rs. 5,21,000 under a registered sale deed. The respondent, who owned adjoining land, tried to exercise his statutory "right of pre-emption" (a neighbouring landowner's right to step into the buyer's shoes) under Section 8 of the West Bengal Land Reforms Act, 1955, alleging the real price paid was only Rs. 2,50,000 and depositing only that lower sum plus 10%, with a request to pay any further amount later if a court inquiry found it necessary. The trial court and later the Calcutta High Court both sided with the respondent, allowing him to deposit less upfront and settle the balance after an inquiry into the true sale price.
Decision Breakdown
The Supreme Court traced the history of pre-emption law, stressing that it is a "very weak right" which courts must construe strictly and narrowly. It held that Section 8(1) requires the full price stated in the sale deed, plus 10%, to be deposited at the time of filing the pre-emption application, within a strict, non-extendable time limit: the right does not even arise unless this is done. Allowing a pre-emptor to pay less and dispute the price afterward would turn a deliberately weak right into a strong, speculative one and would leave genuine buyers' sale prices open to endless second-guessing. The High Court's order was set aside, and the Court directed that the amount the respondent had deposited be refunded to him with any accrued interest, since he had failed to deposit the full price in time.
Lesson Learnt
When a law gives a neighbour the right to "step into the shoes" of a property buyer by matching the price paid, that right is generally available only if the full stated price is deposited strictly within the time limit: a buyer cannot be kept in legal limbo by someone who simply disputes the price and pays less.