Hi, My father-in-law (FIL) was in possession of a land in Maharashtra. The ownership of the land is divided into 4 parties - Father-in-law, Mother-in-Law, two brother-in-law. My father-in-law, some years back, decided to sell the land to a party and received Rs. 1 Lakh as token amount for this deal. The agreement to sell was then written on a Rs. 100 stamp paper but the same was NOT REGISTERED, also the deal was made only between the buyer and father-in-law, none of the other 3 owners (mother-in-law and brothers-in-law) had signed the agreement. After a couple of months, due to some reasons my father-in-law decided not to sell the land to the party as the rate agreed with him was much below the current market rate. But the buyer insisted that the agreement be honored. After much argument between the two, the buyer filed a case against my father-in-law for him to sell this land to him at the agreed rate. Now, the case was going on for a year and so and my father-in-law suddenly passed away last year and as accordance with the Indian rules, the case then got transferred to my Mother-in-law and brother-in-laws. The buyer has also gone ahead and put up a notice on the land that he owns it, also he has started construction activities on the land. We do not want to sell the property to him unless he gives us the current market rate, for which he is not ready. So my question here is - 1. Is the agreement valid, given that it is Unregistered and that not all parties signatures(mother-in-law, 2 brother-in-law) are in it ? 2. Can the buyer actually claim that he owns the land and start his activities in it, given that the case is still not resolved ? Is there any way that we can stop it ? The lawyer we have hired is not providing us with any answers, hence asking here.
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1) your father in law could have sold only his one fourth share in land
2) agreement for sale of entire land is not binding upon other 3 co owners
3) other legal heirs should seek an injunction restraining the purchase from carrying on any construction on said land pending hearing and final disposal of suit
4) change your lawyer if you so desire
Hi, as per law agreement to sell is not required to be registered, even if it is unregistered then it is valid also.
2. In a suit for specific performance of the contract it is discretion of the court to grant a relief or not, even though everything holds good the court have power to reject the same.
3. As far as construction is consider you have to stop them to further construction of the property. You have to file an application under order 39 rule 1 & 2 CPC not construct the building in the disputed area and request the court to stop further construction.
4. Normally court will grant injunction order.
1. An unregistered agreement to sell the property has the same legal character and vigour as a registered agreement. Your father could not have executed the agreement unless the remaining co-owners had executed a POA in his favour to authorize him to do so. The remedy available to other co-owners i,e your MIL and her two sons is to seek declaration of illegality of the agreement executed by your FIL as it was without their consent.
2. The buyer does not own the land unless and until the sale deed has been registered in his favour. So if he attempts to obtain the possession of the land then the co-owners, including your husband who has become a co-owner by way of succession, can seek injunction from the civil court.
1. Is the agreement valid, given that it is Unregistered and that not all parties signatures(mother-in-law, 2 brother-in-law) are in it ?
The unregistered sale agreement is invalid. Especially the sale agreement made on the property by one owner alone while the property was jointly purchased by several owners shall not be maintainable. You can fight it out on the same grounds. Alternately the court may ask the legal heirs to refund the money received from as advance.
2. Can the buyer actually claim that he owns the land and start his activities in it, given that the case is still not resolved ? Is there any way that we can stop it ? The lawyer we have hired is not providing us with any answers, hence asking here.
The buyer cannot indulge in such activities. It is illegal, You can obtain an injunction order against him restraining him from proceeding with his proposed illegal acts on the property. His arrogance has to be brought to an end.
1. Mere basing on agreement he cannot make constructions in the land. He has no authority to even enter into your land. He can at the most bring an order from the court against you not to sell the land. Your lawyer’s credentials are doubtful, he might have mingled with your opponent. Change the lawyer immediately. By the above acts, it seems that your opponent might be a very influencial person. He can manage the local police,revenue and other authorities. Be cautious and alert.
2. You can definitely stop it, by filing a petition in the court asking the court to stop the constructions immediately. You can also file a petition for contempt of court.
however stamp paper will not read as evidence but it proves that oral agreement existed between the parties for selling of land.
but have these defences :
1. unregistered stamp paper.
2. full consideration is still unpaid.
3. one party is died.
4. you can take plea that agreement is liable to be void under section 17 and 18 of contract act
5. other parties are not agreed and property is not separable.
hire an advocate and file counter in this case.
