Patna High Court
Udho Rai And Ors. vs Ambika Tiwary And Ors. on 19 April, 2007
Equivalent citations: AIR2007PAT136, AIR 2007 PATNA 136, 2007 (6) ABR (NOC) 960 (PAT), 2007 AIHC NOC 518, (2008) 3 BANKCAS 188
Bench: Barin Ghosh, Navaniti Pd. Singh
JUDGMENT
1. A suit for specific performance of a contract for sale of a plot of land for one single consideration was filed by the appellants against five defendants. The suit has been dismissed by the trial Court and the judgment and decree passed by the trial Court has been upheld by the first appellate Court in the first appeal preferred by the plaintiffs. Hence this Letters Patent appeal by the plaintiffs.
2. The admitted facts of the case are that defendant Nos. 1 and 5, who are brothers, got a piece of land under a deed of gift. Defendant No. 1 entered into an agreement for sale alone with the appellants. In the agreement for sale the defendant No. 1 held out to the appellants that by virtue of the said gift he alone received the entire chunk of land, which he proposed to sell for a single consideration of Rs. 25,000/-. Subsequent thereto on 10th February, 1974 defendants No. 1 and 5 sold the entire chunk of land received by them under the said gift to the defendants No. 2, 3 and 4. Plaintiffs thereupon filed a suit for specific performance of the contract. In the plaint it was not contended that the defendant No. 1 at the time of entering into the contract made misrepresentation to the effect that he alone obtained the entire chunk of land under the gift and accordingly, the plaintiffs are entitle to insist upon the defendant No. 1 to perform the contract in such a manner so that the plaintiffs are put in the position in which they would have been if the representations made by the defendant No. 1 were true i.e. let the defendant No. 1 discharge the contract by selling his interest in the land in question at the said one single consideration or half thereof.
3. Instead in the plaint, the plaintiffs insisted performance of the said contract entered into by the plaintiffs and defendant No. 1 in its entirety by the defendants Nos. 1 and 5 by transferring the entire chunk of land to the plaintiffs in consideration of Rs. 25,000/-
4. On such pleading, according to us, Section 23 of the Contract Act read with Section 24 thereof would apply and as such the contract becomes void. A void contract cannot be specifically performed. The object of the agreement implied injury to the property of defendant No.5, who was not a party thereto, and accordingly object of the said agreement was unlawful. Any agreement, object of which is unlawful, is void.
5. The agreement proposed to achieve the object thereof by one single consideration. When object of the agreement was unlawful and the same was proposed to be achieved by one single consideration, the agreement is void.
6. For the reasons, as noted above, and also for the reasons for which the trial Judge as well as the first appellate Court did not agree to enforce the contract in question, and the same being in consonance with law, we see no reason to interfere. The appeal fails and the same is dismissed without any order as to costs.