Unregistered agreement of sale admissible in specific performance suits under the Registration Act exception.

An unregistered agreement of sale may be received in evidence in a suit for specific performance because Section 49 of the Registration Act, 1908 creates an exception to the compulsory registration rule under Section 17 when the document is used as evidence of a contract. An agreement that merely records a right to obtain a further conveyance does not by itself create or extinguish title, so its admission for specific performance is legally permissible. The document was therefore admissible, and the order admitting it was held to be in law.

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Issues: Whether an unregistered agreement of sale can be received and marked in evidence in a suit for specific performance.

Analysis: Section 17 of the Registration Act, 1908 makes certain documents compulsorily registrable, but Section 49 carves out an exception for an unregistered document that is received as evidence of a contract in a suit for specific performance. An agreement of sale, by itself, does not create or extinguish title if it merely records a right to obtain a further conveyance. On that footing, the document in question fell within the statutory exception and was distinguishable from cases where an unregistered instrument is relied on for an impermissible substantive purpose.

Conclusion: The unregistered agreement of sale was admissible in evidence in the suit for specific performance, and the order admitting it was in law.

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