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2024 (9) TMI 1588
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....itional District Judge, Tarn Taran 'First Appellate Court' in Civil Appeal Civil Appeal No. 05 of 2016 was affirmed. The First Appellate Court dismissed the Civil Appeal preferred by the appellantdefendant and upheld the judgment and decree dated 18th February, 2013 passed by the learned Additional Civil Judge (Senior Division), Patti, Tarn Taran 'trial Court' in Civil Suit Civil Suit No. 535 of 2008 filed by the respondent-plaintiff. The trial Court allowed the suit partly, directing the recovery of Rs. 16,00,000/- and the interest accrued thereupon from the appellant-defendant by way of alternative relief of recovery while denying the prayer of specific performance sought for by the respondent-plaintiff. 4. The facts in a nutshell relevant and essential for disposal of the appeal are noted hereinbelow. 5. The respondent-plaintiff filed the subject suit in the trial Court seeking a decree for specific performance of an agreement to sell dated 7th May, 2007 'disputed agreement' in respect of an agricultural plot of land admeasuring 30 Kanals 8 Marlas 'suit land' located at Village Amrike, Tehsil Patti, District Tarn Taran, Punjab. Besides the relief of specific performance, t....
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....lso discharging the duties of the Joint Sub-Registrar, Khem Karan. In this manner, the respondent-plaintiff claimed to have marked his presence before the Joint Sub-Registrar showing his readiness and willingness to get the sale deed executed and registered in his favour, in terms of the disputed agreement. 8. Respondent-plaintiff further averred in the plaint that the appellant-defendant had breached the terms of the disputed agreement and was not ready and willing to execute and get the sale deed registered despite numerous requests, being made. The respondent-plaintiff also averred that the possession of the land, was handed over to him at the time when the disputed agreement was executed and that the respondent-plaintiff continued to remain in possession of the suit land as a prospective vendee. Apprehending that the appellant-defendant could alienate the suit land in favour of some other person, thereby dispossessing him, the respondent-plaintiff filed the subject suit Civil Suit No. 535 of 2008 seeking reliefs in the following terms: - "It is therefore respectfully prayed that a decree for Specific Performance of Agreement to sell dated 7.5.2007 with regard to lan....
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....defendant, upon being summoned, appeared before the trial Court and filed a written statement denying the averments made in the plaint. It was specifically averred in the written statement filed by the appellant-defendant that the disputed agreement was without consideration, result of misrepresentation, impersonation and must have been prepared fraudulently by the respondent-plaintiff who was an employee of the Punjab police, posted as the Head Constable at Amritsar by colluding with the scribe and the attesting witnesses. 10. It was further alleged that the respondent-plaintiff's brother was a commission agent and ran a commission business at Mandi, Amarkot. The appellant-defendant used to sell his agricultural produce through the commission agency of the respondentplaintiff's brother. The appellant-defendant was an illiterate simpleton and the respondent-plaintiff, and his brother used to get the thumb impressions of the customers/agriculturists including the appellant-defendant on blank stamp papers. It was specifically asserted in the written statement that the disputed agreement had been prepared by fraudulent means on one of such blank stamp papers, on which the thumb imp....
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....nent injunction were decided against the respondentplaintiff. However, issue No.3(supra) regarding the alternative relief seeking recovery of the amount to the tune of Rs. 19,00,000/- was partly decided in favour of the respondent-plaintiff and partly against him. The trial Court recorded the following findings : - a. It was an admitted fact that the appellant-defendant was the owner of the suit land and respondent-plaintiff while appearing as PW-1 produced on record the agreement to sell 'disputed agreement', duly signed by the appellant-defendant. b. The respondent-plaintiff testified that the appellantdefendant had agreed to sell the suit land in his favour and received a sum of Rs. 16,00,000/- as earnest money with a condition to execute the sale deed on 19th September, 2008. c. On the date fixed as per the disputed agreement, the appellant-defendant failed to appear at the office of the Sub-Registrar whereas the respondent-plaintiff got his presence marked by way of an affidavit attested by the Executive Magistrate-cum-Sub-Registrar, Khem Karan. d. The version of the respondent-plaintiff was also corroborated by the attesting witnesses namel....
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....t's attention to the following excerpts from the cross-examination of the respondent-plaintiff (PW1): - "Amarjit Singh S/o Massa Singh is my real brother. He is running a commission agent shop at Amarkot, and the name of the commission agent shop is Cheema Trading Company, at Amarkot. I know Lakha Singh from my childhood. He belongs to my village. I do not know whether Lakha Singh deft sold his agriculture produce through the commission agent shop of my brother Amarjit Singh. I am posted as Head constable in Punjab Police and now posted at Ludhiana at Division no. 11nd. The agreement was scribed at Patti by a typist, but I do not know his name. Possession was not delivered on the basis of agreement to sell. It was mentioned in the agreement that the possession will be delivered on the agreement but the defendant refused to deliver the possession of the land agreed to sold the land to me. I file the income tax return because I am employee of Punjab Govt. I have not shown the amount of Rs.16,00,000/- in my income tax return. It is correct if any Govt. employee want to purchase any land it is necessary to get the permission from their department. I have not taken any....
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....he appellantdefendant that his brother Amarjeet Singh had procured the thumb impression of the appellant-defendant on blank stamp papers by fraud. 19. Learned counsel urged that the admissions as appearing in the testimony of the respondent-plaintiff, completely discredit the version regarding the execution of the disputed agreement. Therefore, he submitted that the findings recorded in the judgments of the Courts below are patently perverse and are based on misreading/ignorance of the admitted facts available on record and thus, the appeal merits acceptance and the impugned judgments deserve to be reversed. 20. Per contra, learned counsel representing the respondentplaintiff, supported the findings recorded in the impugned judgments. He urged that the trial Court, the First Appellate Court and the High Court appreciated and re-appreciated the evidence minutely and have arrived at an unimpeachable conclusion that the transaction in question was a loan transaction inter se between the respondent-plaintiff and the appellant-defendant and thus, the appellant-defendant was rightly held liable to reimburse the amount of loan secured from the respondent-plaintiff at the time of the....
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....iation of evidence another view is possible also cannot be a reason for substitution of a plausible view taken and confirmed. We will now, bearing in mind the settled position, proceed to consider as to whether the said appellate power invites invocation in the case on hand." ( emphasis supplied ) 24. This Court in Mekala Sivaiah v. State of A.P., (2022) 8 SCC 253 while dealing with its power under Article 136 to interfere with concurrent findings held the following: - "15. It is well settled by judicial pronouncement that Article 136 is worded in wide terms and powers conferred under the said Article are not hedged by any technical hurdles. This overriding and exceptional power is, however, to be exercised sparingly and only in furtherance of cause of justice. Thus, when the judgment under appeal has resulted in grave miscarriage of justice by some misapprehension or misreading of evidence or by ignoring material evidence then this Court is not only empowered but is well expected to interfere to promote the cause of justice. 16. It is not the practice of this Court to re-appreciate the evidence for the purpose of examining whether the findings of fact....
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....pellant-defendant are marked only on the last page thereof. The first and second pages of the agreement, do not bear the signature of the respondent-plaintiff or the thumb impression of the appellant-defendant. There exist significant blank spaces at the foot of the first two pages below the transcription typed out on these two pages. These observations give rise to a strong inference fortifying the contention of the appellant-defendant's counsel that the thumb impression of the appellant-defendant may have been taken on a blank stamp paper and the disputed agreement was typed thereon subsequently. 28. It cannot be denied that the respondent-plaintiff being a Police Constable was mandatorily required to seek permission from his department before entering into an agreement to purchase property of such a high value. However, admittedly, he did not seek any such permission from the department. As per the disputed agreement, the appellant-defendant agreed to sell the suit land to the respondent-plaintiff @ Rs. 5,00,000/- per Killa, which was just about half of the market rate of the land at the relevant point of time, as admitted by the respondent-plaintiff. Going by the rate as fix....
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....deed registered. However, the appellant-defendant failed to appear at the office of the Sub-Registrar on the scheduled date. Admittedly, the respondent-plaintiff did not give any advance intimation to the appellant-defendant imploring him to receive the balance consideration and execute the sale deed on the scheduled date i.e. 19th September, 2008 or anytime thereafter. Instead, he directly proceeded to file the subject suit in the month of December, 2008 wherein, alternative prayers, one for the execution of the sale deed and the other for the refund of the earnest money were made. 32. Ex-facie, the averments set out in the plaint and the evidence of the respondent-plaintiff do not bear an iota of truth and appear to be nothing but a sheer concoction. The circumstances noted above, the evidence of the respondent-plaintiff; the disputed agreement and the plaint clearly indicates that the disputed agreement seems to have been prepared on a blank stamp paper on which, the thumb impressions of the illiterate appellantdefendant had been taken prior to its transcription. The large blank spaces on the first and second pages of the disputed agreement and the absence of thumb impression....