Escalation of Prices Cannot Be The Sole Ground To Deny Specific Performance: Supreme Court

Escalation of prices cannot be the sole ground to deny specific performance, the Supreme Court observed. The bench comprising Justices L. Nageswara Rao and S. Ravindra Bhat also observed that, once a suit for specific performance has been filed, any delay as a result of the Court process cannot be put against the plaintiff as a matter of law in decreeing specific performance. The court was considering appeal against the judgment of Division Bench of Madras High Court which set aside decree for specific performance passed by the Single Judge. The appellant, in the year 2000, had filed four suits for specific performance of the agreements of sale dated 20.03.1991 and Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) dated 24.01.1994. Taking note of the pleadings, the bench observed that the finding of the Division Bench of the High Court that the Appellants were not ready and willing to perform their part of the contract by not paying the balance consideration immediately after disposal of the Writ Petition is erroneous.