SPECIFIC PERFORMANCE AND LIQUIDATED DAMAGES – A CASE FOR UNIFORMITY

A recent judgment of the Supreme Court of India in T.D. Vivek Kumar & Anr. vs. Ranbir Chaudhary¹ deals with the right to specific performance of a contract which stipulates payment of double the amount given as an advance in case of its breach. In this case, the Court held that where an agreement of sale stipulates that in case the seller fails to execute the sale deed within the prescribed time, it shall be liable to pay double the earnest money, the specific performance of such an agreement cannot be granted. However, this view ignores earlier precedents of the Apex Court on this very issue as outlined below and hence warrants a re-examination of the law relating to the equitable right to specific performance.