Specific Relief (Amendment) Act, 2018: A Paradigm Shift?

1. INTRODUCTION

The Specific Relief (Amendment) Act, 2018¹ ("Amendment") was notified in the official gazette on August 1, 2018 thereby amending the Specific Relief Act, 1963 ("Act"), which essentially prescribes remedies for parties either by awarding specific performance of a contract, or granting an injunction, or declaration in favor of the aggrieved party. "Specific relief" is a remedy decreed by courts, and requires precise fulfillment of contractual or legal obligations by a defaulting party when monetary damages are inappropriate or inadequate.² The Amendment was introduced pursuant to recommendations of the Expert Committee headed by Mr. Anand Desai in its report dated May 26, 2016, with the primary objective of, amongst other things, to regulate enforceability of contracts concerning infrastructure development in India in order to promote public interest and ease of doing business, to address issues of delay in enforceability of contracts, and to provide