Unregistered lease enforcement fails where registration is mandatory, section 53A is only defensive, and specific performance conditions are unmet.

An unregistered lease of immovable property for a term exceeding one year was held unenforceable because section 107 of the Transfer of Property Act required registration. Section 53A did not confer an affirmative right to possession; it operated only as a defensive shield and could not support enforcement of rights under the unregistered transaction. Specific performance under section 27 of the Specific Relief Act was also unavailable because the pleading did not satisfy the statutory preconditions, including the required possession of the property as contemplated by that provision. The suit based on the unregistered arrangement was therefore not maintainable, and dismissal of the claim was upheld.

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Issues: (i) Whether the alleged sub-lease could be enforced despite want of registration under the Transfer of Property Act and the Registration Act; (ii) whether the transferee could invoke section 53A of the Transfer of Property Act to claim possession on the basis of an unregistered lease; (iii) whether specific performance of the alleged contract to lease could be claimed under section 27 of the Specific Relief Act.

Issue (i): Whether the alleged sub-lease could be enforced despite want of registration under the Transfer of Property Act and the Registration Act.

Analysis: The documents relied upon showed a lease of immovable property for a period exceeding one year, because the agreed rent structure made the first payment referable to a period extending beyond twelve months. A lease of that kind required a registered instrument under section 107 of the Transfer of Property Act. As the documents were admittedly unregistered, the lease could not be enforced.

Conclusion: The alleged lease was invalid and unenforceable for want of registration.

Issue (ii): Whether the transferee could invoke section 53A of the Transfer of Property Act to claim possession on the basis of an unregistered lease.

Analysis: Section 53A operates only as a shield against enforcement of rights by the transferor and does not confer an independent right on the transferee to recover possession or assert affirmative relief on the basis of an unregistered transfer. The claim in the suit was to enforce rights under the alleged lease, not merely to protect possession defensively.

Conclusion: Section 53A did not assist the transferee.

Issue (iii): Whether specific performance of the alleged contract to lease could be claimed under section 27 of the Specific Relief Act.

Analysis: Specific performance was not pleaded as such, the alleged contract was not wholly in writing on the case set up, and possession had not been taken of the entire property that formed the subject of the contract. The wording of section 27 required possession of the property, not merely part of it, and therefore the statutory condition was not satisfied.

Conclusion: Specific performance was unavailable.

Final Conclusion: The suit was not maintainable on the basis of the unregistered transaction, and the dismissal of the claim was upheld.

Ratio Decidendi: An unregistered lease of immovable property for a term exceeding one year cannot be enforced, section 53A of the Transfer of Property Act is only a defensive protection and not a source of affirmative relief, and section 27 of the Specific Relief Act requires compliance with its own statutory preconditions, including possession of the property as contemplated by that section.

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