In Brief
The respondents purchased a property in 1974 from a judgment-debtor whose wife had earlier filed a suit seeking maintenance and a charge on specified properties. When the wife obtained a decree creating a charge, she successfully auctioned the property in 1977. The respondents' subsequent suit for declaration of title was dismissed by the trial court as res judicata and barred by the prior dismissal of their objection application to the court auction. The Supreme Court upheld the dismissal, holding that: (1) the sale deed was executed during pending litigation and was thus caught by lis pendens under Section 52 of the Transfer of Property Act; (2) the respondents' failure to pursue their objection application (dismissed in default) barred them from filing a separate suit on the same grounds under Order XXI Rule 92(3) CPC; and (3) the respondents had suppressed material facts and lacked clean hands. The appeal was allowed and the original dismissal restored."
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