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Ramasamy (Purchaser) v. Venkatachalapathi (Decree Holder)

Civil Appeal · 2019 INSC 78Decided 22 Jan 2019
Civil Appeal No. 932 of 2019
Justice R. Banumathi · Justice R. Subhash Reddy

Background

In a suit for specific performance of a property sale agreement, a court had granted an interim injunction in 2004 restraining the seller from transferring the disputed property while the case was pending. In apparent violation of that injunction, the seller executed a sale deed in favour of the appellant (her father-in-law) in 2005. The executing court later found both the seller and the appellant guilty of contempt for violating the injunction, and the High Court upheld this finding against the appellant specifically.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held that violating an injunction is a serious matter, but a person can only be punished for contempt if there is clear evidence they wilfully disobeyed the order with knowledge of it. It found no material showing the appellant (the father-in-law) actually knew about the 2004 injunction when he took the sale deed, even though he was related to the seller. Since the seller herself had already been cleared of contempt in a separate proceeding, the Court held it would be unfair to hold the appellant, who was in a comparable position, to a stricter standard, and also took into account that he was an octogenarian. The appeal was allowed and the contempt finding against him was set aside, without affecting the pending second appeal on the underlying property dispute.

Lesson Learnt

A person cannot be punished for contempt of court for violating an injunction unless there is clear proof they actually knew about the order and wilfully defied it: mere family connection to someone bound by the order is not enough.

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

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