In Brief
A father of the appellants agreed to buy land in 1980 but the vendors refused to execute the sale deed. He filed for specific performance in 1983; the trial court decreed the suit in 1986, and the High Court confirmed it in 2004. The sale deed was executed in 2007. However, the vendors' nephews, who were impleaded as defendants but never contested the case, later claimed possession as cultivating tenants and objected to execution. The Supreme Court held that persons who remain ex parte in the original suit cannot obstruct execution of a finalized decree on grounds of possession. The Court found collusion between the vendors and their nephews to frustrate the decree. Since the respondents had not been registered as tenants during the suit's pendency and obtained certification only years after the decree became final, they had no independent legal right. The Court allowed the appeal, set aside the lower courts' orders, and directed immediate delivery of possession to the decree-holders.
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