Beemaneni Maha Lakshmi v. Gangumalla Appa Rao (Since Dead) By LRs.
Background
The appellant (original defendant) owned about 17 acres 39 cents of agricultural land in East Godavari District, Andhra Pradesh, which had earlier been found partly "surplus" under the state's land-ceiling law. In 1985 she agreed to sell this land to the respondent (original plaintiff) for Rs.2,45,000, receiving a part payment of Rs.55,000, with the balance payable after the land was measured and the sale deed executed. When the appellant failed to execute the sale deed despite the plaintiff's repeated demands and his readiness to pay the balance, the plaintiff sued for specific performance of the agreement, and both the trial court and the Andhra Pradesh High Court ruled in his favour.
Decision Breakdown
The Supreme Court upheld the concurrent findings of the trial court and High Court that the plaintiff-purchaser had remained "ready and willing" to perform his part of the contract throughout, noting it was unreasonable to expect him to keep re-depositing the balance sale consideration with the bank indefinitely rather than only when actually called upon to do so. The Court rejected the defendant-vendor's new argument that a decree for specific performance after so many years would cause her undue hardship, holding that such a hardship plea cannot be raised for the first time at the Supreme Court stage when it was never pleaded in the written statement or framed as an issue at trial, relying on its earlier ruling in A. Maria Angelena vs A.G. Balkis Bee. Finding no merit in any of the precedents cited by the defendant's counsel, the Court dismissed the appeals and confirmed the decree directing specific performance of the 1985 agreement to sell.
Lesson Learnt
In a suit for specific performance of a property sale agreement, a buyer does not lose his right to enforce the contract merely because years pass before the case is resolved, so long as he remains genuinely ready and willing to pay when required, and a seller cannot raise a "hardship due to delay" defence for the first time on final appeal if it was never pleaded at trial.