Unregistered sale agreements do not transfer title and cannot exclude assets from a bankrupt's estate after limitation expires.

An unregistered agreement for sale did not transfer title to immovable property or shares, so the assets remained part of the bankrupt's estate for administration by the bankruptcy trustee. Because no sale deed was executed and no timely specific performance action was pursued, the claimed interest could not defeat the estate. The limitation period for specific performance had expired, and the lapse of that period left the appellant without a subsisting enforceable right under the agreements. The result was that the assets could not be excluded from bankruptcy proceedings.

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Issues: (i) Whether the properties and shares covered by the unregistered agreements for sale could be excluded from the bankrupt's estate in bankruptcy proceedings. (ii) Whether the appellant's claim based on the agreements for sale was defeated by failure to obtain specific performance within limitation.

Issue (i): Whether the properties and shares covered by the unregistered agreements for sale could be excluded from the bankrupt's estate in bankruptcy proceedings.

Analysis: The agreements for sale were undisputed, but they were not registered. For immovable property, registration was mandatory, and an unregistered document could not convey title or be relied upon to prove a completed transfer. No sale deed had been executed, and no specific performance action had been pursued. In the absence of a valid conveyance, ownership continued to vest in the bankrupt, and the assets remained part of the bankruptcy estate liable to be administered by the bankruptcy trustee.

Conclusion: The properties and shares could not be excluded from the bankruptcy estate, and the claim was against the appellant.

Issue (ii): Whether the appellant's claim based on the agreements for sale was defeated by failure to obtain specific performance within limitation.

Analysis: The agreements themselves contemplated enforcement through specific performance in case of breach. The period for a suit for specific performance is three years under the Limitation Act, and the court held that this period had already expired. The appellant's inaction could not extend limitation indefinitely, and the expiry of limitation extinguished the enforceable right claimed through the agreements.

Conclusion: The appellant's claim was barred by limitation and could not sustain exclusion of the assets from the estate.

Final Conclusion: The appeal failed because the alleged agreements for sale did not divest title from the bankrupt, and the appellant had no subsisting enforceable right to keep the assets outside the bankruptcy process.

Ratio Decidendi: An unregistered agreement for sale, without execution of a sale deed and without timely pursuit of specific performance, does not transfer title and cannot be used to exclude the asset from the bankrupt's estate.

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