Equity Trust And Specific Relief (Old Edition)

This book brings a fresh approach to the subject.

The author traces the evolution of the principles of Equity in India, covering in the process all aspects of the subject.. The aim and object of Equity and its role have been explained lucidly with special reference to the Manju Bhatia case 1997 and the A.P. Financial Corporation case 1994. Reference to the principles of Equity becomes necessary in the Indian Courts in the matter of interpretation of the relevant statutes of property, contract, mortgages, trusts, specific relief and the like where the statute is silent on a particular point. For example, in cases arising out of contract, equity steps in and takes over and imposes liability upon the defendant for unquantified damages for the breach of duty owed by the defendant to the plaintiff. The principles of justice and conscience are thus the basis of equity jurisdiction and equity has a role to play in the field of tort too. The author has taken pains to show the use of Equitable principles in the Indian context, and has also made a comparison with the English law on the subject.

The third edition of the book brings case law on various points up to date. Principles of promissory estoppel have been brought up to date showing that the doctrine is applied in various fields to do justice. Understandably parties playing foul with equity cannot avail of its benefits. All important decisions relating to specific performance of contract (e.g. ”readiness and willingness” to perform; time is the “essence of a contract” or not) have also been taken note of.

The book includes the Gujarat High Court’s remarkable decision regarding “an act of dispossession” and elaborates that a casual unnoticed user of plaintiff’s land cannot be considered as an exclusive possession by the defendant. Therefore it cannot amount to an act of dispossession necessitating the claim for possession by the plaintiff as contemplated by Section 34 of the Specific Relief Act.

An elaborate subject-index and table of cases add to the utility of the book.