In Brief
Two brothers purchased agricultural land via a sale deed dated 2 December 1985. While the deed was presented for registration on 5 December 1985, it remained unregistered for 26 years due to stamp duty deficiency. The vendor later fraudulently sold the same land to another buyer in 2010. After the buyers discovered this in 2011, they cleared the stamp duty and got their deed registered, then sued to cancel the 2010 deed. The High Court dismissed their suit, but the Supreme Court allowed their appeal, holding that the 1985 sale deed was valid and binding despite delayed registration. The vendor's conduct was dishonest—he failed to deny execution or contest receipt of payment, never entered the witness box, and never appealed the first appellate court's decision favoring the original buyers. The subsequent purchaser cannot claim bona fide purchaser status once the vendor's rights were already transferred.
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