K.S. Manjunath And Others Vs Moorasavirappa @ Muttanna Chennappa Batil (Supreme Court of India)
Unchallenged Termination Notice Fatal- No Specific Performance Without Challenging Termination – Agreement to Sell Suit Dismissed
Specific Performance Denied – Bona Fide Purchasers Protected – SC Rejects Vendees’ Claim After 25 Years – SC Says Declaration Against Termination Is Mandatory – High Court Order Set Aside by Supreme Court
The Supreme Court allowed the appeals filed by the subsequent purchasers & set aside the Karnataka High Court’s decree of specific performance, restoring the Trial Court’s dismissal of the suit.
The dispute arose from an unregistered 2000 Agreement to Sell (ATS) for 354 acres of agricultural land in Haveri, Karnataka. After partial payments by the vendees, a status quo order in another partition suit stalled the transaction. The vendors issued a termination notice in 2003, offering to refund the earnest money. The vendees replied asserting readiness, but did not challenge the legality of termination or seek any declaratory relief.
In 2007, soon after the partition suit was withdrawn, the vendors sold the land to subsequent purchasers, who claimed to be bona-fide buyers for value. The vendees then filed a suit for specific performance of the ATS without seeking cancellation of the 2003 termination.
