Conditional sale deed claim failed after post-execution alterations to the reconveyance clause were found unreliable

A registered sale deed could not be treated as a conditional sale with a binding right of reconveyance where the added words in the margin and the reconveyance clause were inserted after execution and were not attested by the executant. Non-compliance with the Registration Act and the Karnataka Registration Rules governing interlineations and alterations rendered the later insertions unreliable, and the evidence showed the additions were suspicious and inconsistent with a genuine conditional sale. The Court also noted that interference with findings of fact in second appeal is limited to perversity, and the High Court properly restored the trial court's view. The alleged reconveyance right was not proved and specific performance was rejected.

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Issues: Whether the sale deed was a conditional sale deed carrying a right of reconveyance, and whether the additions and interlineations in the deed made after execution could bind the respondent and sustain a decree for specific performance.

Analysis: The registered sale deed was admitted, but the Court found that the words added in the margin and the reconveyance clause were inserted after execution and were not attested by the executant. The mandatory requirement regarding interlineations and alterations under the Registration Act and the Karnataka Registration Rules was not complied with. On the evidence, the later additions were held to be suspicious and inconsistent with a genuine conditional sale. The Court further held that interference with findings of fact in second appeal is permissible only where the findings are perverse, but on the record the High Court had correctly restored the trial court's view that the deed, as executed, did not contain a binding reconveyance covenant.

Conclusion: The alleged right of reconveyance was not proved, the altered clauses were not binding on the respondent, and the suit for specific performance was rightly rejected.

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