In Brief
The case concerned whether appellants (Chitralekha Builders and Nina Anil Shah), who were not parties when consent decrees were passed in Suit No. 1335/1988, could challenge those decrees by appeal. The property dispute involved an agreement to sell between the Vaity family and Chitralekha Builders, with subsequent compromises affecting the property. The Supreme Court held that non-signatories to consent terms are not bound by the resulting decrees. Although appellants were later impleaded as defendants, they could not effectively challenge the decrees through appeal; instead, their substantive suit questioning the decrees' validity should be examined independently on merits. The Court dismissed the appeal and directed the pending substantive suit be heard expeditiously.
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