Relief u/s Section 20 of the Specific Relief Act is discretionary #legalupdates

In a case decided by Supreme Court, the Court has held that Section 20(1) of Specific Relief Act, 1963 indicates that, jurisdiction to decree specific performance is discretionary. Yet, discretion of Court is not arbitrary but is “sound and reasonable”, to be “guided by judicial principles”. Sub-section 2 of Section 20 of Act contains a stipulation of those cases where the court may exercise its discretion not to grant specific performance.

Material placed on record indicates that the terms of contract, conduct of parties at time of entering into agreement and circumstances under which contract was entered into gave Plaintiff an unfair advantage over defendants. These circumstances make it inequitable to enforce specific performance.

Supreme Court Jayakantham & Others v. Abaykumar Civil Appeal No. 3049 of 2017 21.02.2017