Determinable contract and damages rule bar interim injunction to force continuance of a terminated agreement.

An interim mandatory injunction directing continuance of a contract was held to be unwarranted where the agreement was prima facie determinable and the alleged loss was capable of being compensated in damages. The Court noted that at the ad-interim stage it could not finally decide disputed questions about termination, and that a party's clear unwillingness to continue the agreement made revival by interim order ordinarily impermissible. Section 14(1)(c) of the Specific Relief Act, 1963 barred specific enforcement of a determinable contract, and Section 41(e) likewise prevented injunction where the contract was not specifically enforceable. The petition was rejected at the interim stage.

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Issues: Whether an interim mandatory injunction could be granted to restrain termination of a contract and direct its continuance, when the agreement was prima facie determinable and the alleged loss was capable of being quantified in damages.

Analysis: At the ad-interim stage, the Court must proceed on the documents available and cannot undertake a final determination of disputed questions of justification for termination. Where one party has clearly indicated that it does not wish to continue the agreement, revival of the contract by interim mandatory order is ordinarily impermissible. The agreement was prima facie a determinable one, attracting the bar under Section 14(1)(c) of the Specific Relief Act, 1963. The Court further held that the alleged breach could be compensated by money damages, and that the question whether compensation would be adequate relief could not justify an interim order for continuance of performance. Section 41(e) of the Specific Relief Act, 1963 also restrained grant of injunction to prevent breach of a contract not specifically enforceable.

Conclusion: Interim mandatory injunction to continue the contract was not warranted. The petition was therefore rejected on merits at the interim stage.

Ratio Decidendi: A contract that is prima facie determinable and whose breach is compensable in damages cannot ordinarily be enforced by an interim mandatory injunction directing its continuance.

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