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Ramakant Ambalal Choksi vs Harish Ambalal Choksi & Ors.

Not available · 2024 INSC 913Decided 22 Nov 2024
Not available
Justice J.B. Pardiwala · Justice R. Mahadevan

Background

Three brothers and their wives (plaintiffs) jointly owned a property in Vadodara with their fourth brother and his family (defendants), having bought the ground and first floors together via two 1991 sale deeds. The plaintiffs sued to cancel a 2018 registered sale deed and sought a permanent injunction to stop the property from being transferred further, while the case was pending. The trial court granted a temporary injunction, but the Gujarat High Court reversed it and allowed the property to potentially change hands.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court restored the trial court's injunction, holding that Order 39 Rule 1 of the Civil Procedure Code independently empowers courts to restrain transfer of disputed property during litigation: separate from and in addition to the doctrine of "lis pendens" under Section 52 of the Transfer of Property Act (which only affects a buyer's rights, not the buyer's ability to purchase). The Court reasoned that even though a pendente lite (during-litigation) transfer would not defeat the eventual decree, allowing sales during litigation can still cause real hardship and embarrassment to the original claimants, and courts have long exercised discretion to freeze the property's status quo in such cases. The High Court's order was set aside, and the respondents were directed not to create any further encumbrances on the property.

Lesson Learnt

Simply relying on the "notice to buyers" protection of lis pendens is not always enough: a court can and should grant an injunction to freeze a disputed property outright while a title dispute is being litigated, especially in family property fights where multiple further transfers could complicate an eventual resolution.

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

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