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Sobaran Singh (Dead) Through Lrs. Shanti Devi (Dead) v. Gordhan Singh (Dead) Thr. Lrs.

Civil Appeal · 2026 INSC 1005Decided 15 Sept 2026
Civil Appeal No. 12945 of 2026 (arising out of SLP(C) No. 27465 of 2016)
Justice J.B. Pardiwala · Justice K. Vinod Chandran

Background

In 1975, the defendant agreed to sell about 5 bighas of agricultural land near Agra to the plaintiff for Rs. 20,000, receiving an advance of Rs. 5,000. The defendant later claimed the "sale agreement" was really just security for a loan repayable with interest. The Trial Court, believing the plaintiff's witnesses (including a person who had bought other land from the same defendant and confirmed the defendant genuinely wanted to sell due to need for money), decreed specific performance in 1979, and the plaintiff took possession via court-executed sale that same year. The First Appellate Court reversed this for want of proof of the plaintiff's "readiness and willingness," and the High Court in second appeal, while agreeing the Trial Court's findings were correct and the defendant's case was "cooked-up," still tried to balance equities by directing the defendant be paid Rs. 15,00,000 (far above the original Rs. 5,000 advance) as compensation.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held that since the High Court itself found the Trial Court's decree of specific performance correct and the defendant's defence fabricated, there was no proper basis to overturn the decree or to substitute a large monetary payment in its place. The First Appellate Court's reversal and the High Court's "equity" enhancement were both unsustainable. Given the plaintiff had been in continuous possession since 1979 (over four decades) after paying the original consideration and obtaining a court-executed sale deed, equity favoured leaving that possession undisturbed rather than substituting damages. The Court restored the Trial Court's original 1979 judgment and possession in the plaintiff's favour, and directed that the Rs. 15,00,000 the defendant had deposited pursuant to the High Court's order be refunded to the defendant with accrued interest within one month.

Lesson Learnt

Once a court has found that a "loan" defence to a genuine agreement to sell land was fabricated and specific performance was correctly granted, an appellate court cannot use "equity" as a backdoor to convert a decree of specific performance into a money payment, especially where the buyer has already taken possession and title decades earlier in reliance on the decree.

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

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