In Brief
Eldeco Housing and Industries Limited sought to enforce a 1998 Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to purchase a property from Ashok Vidyarthi. The sale was conditional on the resolution of pending family litigation affecting Vidyarthi's title. When litigation was resolved in 2015, Eldeco filed a suit for specific performance. The defendant applied to dismiss the plaint under Order VII Rule 11(d) CPC, claiming a prior injunction suit barred the current suit. The High Court allowed the application in a review hearing. The Supreme Court held that documents outside the plaint and factual disputes cannot be considered when deciding plaint rejection. Since the cause of action for specific performance only arose after title was clarified, the prior suit did not bar the present suit. The Court allowed the appeal and remitted the matter for trial.
The lawyer headnote and full judgment text are available to registered users.