Sharada Sanghi & Ors. Vs Asha Agarwal & Ors. (Supreme Court of India)
The Supreme Court dismissed the appeal in a property dispute involving specific performance, holding that a party cannot abandon direct proceedings and later revive the same dispute through execution.
The appellants had obtained a decree for specific performance and sought execution for possession. However, third parties (claiming independent title through sale deeds) resisted execution. Crucially:
- The appellants had earlier filed separate suits to cancel those sale deeds, but
- Allowed both suits (and restoration applications) to be dismissed for default, thereby letting the issue attain finality.
Key rulings of the Court:
- Not res judicata: Dismissal for default is not a decision on merits and does not attract Section 11 CPC.
- But still barred on conduct: Applying broader principles like nemo debet bis vexari and abuse of process, the Court held that:
- A litigant who had the opportunity to pursue a claim but chose not to cannot re-agitate it later.
- Execution cannot be used as a backdoor to revive abandoned claims.
- Abuse of process: The Court strongly criticised the appellants for:
- Not impleading necessary parties despite knowledge of rival claims,
- Abandoning direct remedies, and
- Attempting to gain advantage through execution proceedings.
- Equity matters: Specific performance (pre-2018 law) being discretionary, conduct of the party is critical, and here it disentitled relief.
The Court upheld the denial of execution, emphasizing that finality of litigation and procedural fairness override technical arguments, and dismissed the appeal for abuse of process.
FULL TEXT OF THE SUPREME COURT JUDGMENT/ORDER
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