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Kaushaliya v. Jodha Ram & Ors.

Contempt Petition (Civil) · 2019 INSC 1279Decided 25 Nov 2019
Contempt Petition (Civil) No. 1868 of 2018 in SLP (Civil) No. 10022 of 2016
Justice M.R. Shah · Justice Ashok Bhushan

Background

A daughter (Kaushaliya) and her father (Jodha Ram) were litigating over family property; their dispute reached the Supreme Court, which referred it to mediation. In 2017, they signed a settlement under which the father would buy the daughter a new property in exchange for her vacating certain family premises, and the Supreme Court disposed of the case in terms of that settlement. When the father allegedly did not fulfil his part and the daughter also did not hand over all the agreed premises, the daughter filed a contempt petition; separately, two third parties claiming to have purchased part of the disputed property (via an unregistered agreement to sell) sought to object to the settlement and have the order recalled.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held that the third-party claimants could not rely on an unregistered agreement to sell to claim ownership or interfere with the settlement, since such an agreement does not itself confer title; their application was dismissed, though without prejudice to their right to pursue ownership claims in a separate competent court. The Court rejected the argument that properties outside the original suit could not form part of a mediated settlement, holding that mediation parties are free to resolve even disputes beyond the original litigation, and such settlements become binding and executable once incorporated into a court order. Invoking its special powers under Article 142 of the Constitution, the Court directed all persons in possession of the disputed properties to hand over peaceful possession to the father within four weeks, and directed both the original parties to fully comply with the 2017 settlement and the executing court to ensure compliance. The contempt petition was accordingly disposed of on this basis.

Lesson Learnt

A settlement reached through Supreme Court-referred mediation becomes a binding and fully enforceable court order, even for property not originally part of the lawsuit, and a mere unregistered "agreement to sell" does not give a third party any ownership right that can override such a settlement.

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

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