Sirdar K.B. Ramachandra Raj Urs (Dead) Through LRs. v. Sarah C. Urs & Ors.
Background
A father and his son (who also held power of attorney for him) agreed in 1979 to sell an inherited property to the plaintiffs for Rs.1,50,000, with part payment made upfront and the plaintiffs taking possession. The balance was eventually paid in 1993, but the sale deed was never executed despite repeated assurances, leading the plaintiffs to sue for specific performance; the trial court and High Court both decreed the suit in the plaintiffs' favour for the entire property.
Decision Breakdown
The Supreme Court found that the property had actually devolved in two equal shares, one to the son (defendant No.1) and one to his late father, under the Hindu Succession Act, but the 1979 agreement had only been signed by the son in his capacity as power of attorney for the father, not as an owner acting for his own share, and the plaintiffs had never pleaded that the son owned any part of the property himself. Since there was no basis to bind the son's own one-half share to the agreement, and no estoppel could be made out against him, the Court modified the decree to allow specific performance only for the father's one-half share, set aside the decree for the son's one-half share, and directed the trial court to physically divide the property into two equal parts within four months. The plaintiffs were not entitled to a refund for the unenforced half since the property's value had meanwhile increased substantially.
Lesson Learnt
When a person signs a sale agreement only as a power-of-attorney holder for someone else, that agreement does not automatically bind that person's own independent ownership share in the same property: a plaintiff seeking specific performance against a co-owner's personal share must specifically plead and prove that co-owner's own title and intent to sell.