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Daulat Singh Rathore v. Rajasthan Housing Board

Civil Appeal · 2017 INSC 1164Decided 4 Dec 2017
Civil Appeal No. 2832 of 2007
Justice Abhay Manohar Sapre · Justice Navin Sinha

Background

The appellant applied in 1982 to the Rajasthan Housing Board for allotment of a flat in Jodhpur under a Middle Income Group scheme and made part-payments. A dispute over the sale of the flat followed, which the appellant pursued both through a civil suit and through a complaint before the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices (MRTP) Commission alleging unfair trade practice by the Board. The MRTP Commission dismissed the complaint in 2006, and the appellant appealed to the Supreme Court by special leave (granted in 2007).

Decision Breakdown

While the appeal was pending, the Supreme Court recorded in 2016 that the Board had agreed in principle to allot a flat to the appellant, and the Board later confirmed this and placed on record relevant flat-price details. Rather than ruling on the underlying unfair-trade-practice legal question, the Court used this agreed position to craft a detailed, equitable final settlement: the Board must allot a flat to the appellant at current government-approved prices, adjusting the sum he had already deposited plus 12% interest against the final price; the Board was to also allow the appellant (described as now elderly) to add a blood relative as co-owner on the sale deed; non-payment within the time fixed would forfeit his earlier deposit; and all formalities were to be completed within six months. The Court held it unnecessary to examine the legal issues in view of these directions, and disposed of the appeal finally.

Lesson Learnt

Long-pending litigation can sometimes be resolved through a court-supervised practical settlement that gives the litigant the relief he actually wants (here, a flat) rather than requiring the Court to adjudicate every underlying legal controversy, and courts will often favour such a workable resolution once the parties move toward one.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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