September 5, 2020
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Rights of Purchaser or Lessee under the Specific Relief Act 1963

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Rights of Purchaser or Lessee under the Specific Relief Act 1963

Author: Amit Singh

Introduction

Under the fundamental right of the Indian constitution, every citizen’s rights should be protected. Like that under the Special relief act 1963, Section 13 protected the rights of the Purchaser of the lessee. Section 13 provides some rights against the person who has no title or only an imperfect title. So, in this article, we will analyze and discuss the right of purchaser or lessee under specific relief act 1963.

What is a Lease?

Lease

A lease is a contractual arrangement calling for the lessee to pay the lessor for use of an asset, Property, buildings and vehicles are mutual assets that are leased. Industrial or business equipment is also leased. Thus we can say that, a lease agreement is a contract between two parties, the lessor and the lessee.

Definition of Lease:

‘Lease’ of immovable property is defined and detailed under Chapter V of the Transfer of Property Act, 1882 Sec 105 of the Act defines the term ‘lease’, ‘lessor ‘and ‘lessee’,

Section 105 of the Act – “lease of immovable property is a transfer of a right to enjoy such property, made for a certain time, express or implied, or in perpetuity, in consideration of a price paid or promised, or of money, a share of crops, service or any other thing of value, to be rendered periodically or on specified occasions to the transferor by the transferee, who accepts the transfer on such terms.

Essential Ingredients of a Lease:

According to Section 105 of the Act, the essential ingredients to constitute a ‘valid lease’ of an immovable property appear to be the following–

  • Transfer of right in the property – An interest in the subject property is to be created in favor of the ‘lessee’ by the ‘lessor’.
  • Period of a lease – Interest created in the property could be for a specified period (expressed or implied) even in perpetuity. Parties to the lease are at liberty to decide the duration of the said lease.
  • Consideration – A valid consideration needs to be paid, periodically or on specified occasions by the lessee to the lessor.

Who is Lessor and Lessee?

Lessor

The lessor is the legal owner of the property, he gives a right to the lessee to occupy the asset or property for a particular period. During the agreement, the lessor keeps the right of ownership of the property and is allowed to receive intervallic payments from the lessee based on their primary agreement. He must also be compensated for any losses gained during the contract due to damage or misuse of the property in question. If the property is sold, the lessor must authorize such a transaction and is entitled to receive any financial gains resulting from the sale.

Lessee

Lessee is the party who acquires the right to use the property for a particular period and makes periodic payments to the lessor based on their initial agreement. During the lease period often depends at least partially on the type of property.

During the lease period, the lessee is accountable for taking care of the property and conducting consistent maintenance as necessary. If the subject of the lease is a flat, the lessee must not make any structural changes without the permission of the lessor. Any damages to the property must be repaired before the expiry of the contract. If the lessee fails to make needed repairs or replace any broken fixtures, the lessor has the right to charge the amount of the repairs to the lessee as per the lease agreement.

The Relationship between Lessor & Lessee

The agreement between a lessor and lessee occurs when the owner sells the property. After the transferring of land to a lessee, the lessee is given the entitlements of the owner and occupier over that land. This means that the lessee will inherit both the power and the tasks and responsibilities that come with being an owner of a land. This dissolves the lessor of any prior responsibilities. In a lease agreement, the lessee is also responsible for complying with the payments established by the lessor at the proposed time. This includes payments made initially, as well as payments that a lessee may incur on a monthly basis. The payments must be made on time, and they do include a grace period, in order to be in good standing with the lessor and credit. At the point of signing, the lessor is released from any responsibilities over that land that are or are not mentioned in the lease agreement. Later such details, as well as others, are significant to the understanding of the lease and its entitlements, it is likewise of importance that the lessee reviews a lease agreement carefully and make sure that all items in it are discussed. And from this, it can prevent any confusion and future disagreements between the lessor and lessee.

Section 13 of the Specific Relief Act, 1963

Rights of purchaser or lessee against a person with no title or imperfect title:-

(1) Where a person contracts to sell or let certain immovable property having no title or only an imperfect title, the purchaser or lessee (subject to the other provisions of this Chapter), has the following rights, namely,-

(a) If the vendor or lessor has subsequently to the contract acquired any interest in the property, the purchaser or lessee may compel him to make good the contract out of such interest;

(b) where the concurrence of other persons is necessary for validating the title, and they are bound to concur at the request of the vendor or lessor, the purchaser or lessee may compel him to procure such concurrence, and when a conveyance by other persons is necessary to validate the title and they are bound to convey at the request of the vendor or lessor, the purchaser or lessee may compel him to procure such conveyance;

(c) where the vendor professes to sell unencumbered property, but the property is mortgaged for an amount not exceeding the purchase money and the vendor has in fact only a right to redeem it, the purchaser may compel him to redeem the mortgage and to obtain a valid discharge, and, where necessary, also a conveyance from the mortgagee;

(d) where the vendor or lessor sues for specific performance of the contract and the suit is dismissed on the ground of his want of title or imperfect title, the defendant has a right to a return of his deposit, if any, with interest thereon, to his costs of the suit, and a lien for such deposit, interest, and costs on the interest, if any, of the vendor or lessor in the property which is the subject-matter of the contract.

(2) The provisions of sub-section (1) shall also apply, as far as may be, to contracts for the sale or hire of movable property.

This section is created on the extended principle what is known in English Law the doctrine of feeding the grant by estoppels. This doctrine found acceptance in India, in the form of Section 43 of Transfer of Property Act. It is has been extended in the present Section 13 of the Specific Relief Act. The right of the person of purchaser or lessee against the person with no title or imperfect title has been enumerated in Section 13 of the Specific Relief Act.

A contract may be specifically imposed even though the promisor had no title or imperfect title at the time of the contract. The promisor is bound to fulfill the terms of the contract if he successively acquires the power of performing the contract. The promisee can compel the promisor to make good the contract out of the interest which the latter acquired after the contract.

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One Comment
  1. S.A.P.Thomas.

    valuable notes for refreshing the legal knowledge.