TMI Blog1999 (7) TMI 679X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... round floor and two upper floors. 1st defendant entered into an agreement to sell dated December 26, 1991 respecting his said property with the 2nd defendant. Name of the 2nd defendant is R. Sridhar. 1st defendant further authorised in writing (Exh.P-1) R. Sridhar to enter into any sale agreement of this property with anyone. This writing is as under:- Mr. R. Sridhar, s/o Sri Rama Raju, residing at No. 17/2, 7th Temple Road, Malleswarama, Bangalore, has got every right to enter into any Sale Agreement on my property bearing No. 25, 4th Temple Road, Malleswarama, Bangalore, consisting of Ground Floor, First Floor and Second Floor of my side measuring 30'x40'. On the strength of this writing 2nd defendant entered into agreemen ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 1st defendant and the plaintiff. Plaintiff's appeal to the High Court met the same fate. High Court was also of the view that the suit of the plaintiff against the 1st defendant was bad as there was no privity of contract between them. Facts of the case which we have set out above are not in dispute. The issue on the basis of which the 1st defendant succeeded was: Whether the 1st defendants proves that he is not liable to pay the amount. There was some dispute if the writing (Exh.P-1) was signed by the 1st defendant. High Court noticed that the 1st defendant did not unequivocally deny the receipt of rupees one lakh from the plaintiff. But then the High Court proceeded even on the assumption that 1st defendant authorised the 2nd defen ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... statement and Vakalatnama in favour of his counsel. Trial court should have immediately probed into the matter. It should have recorded statement of the counsel for the 1st defendant to find out if Vakalatnama in his favour and written statement were not signed by the 1st defendant whom he represented. It was apparent that the 1st defendant was trying to get out of the situation when confronted with his signatures on the Vakalatnama and the written statement and his having earlier denied his signatures on Exh.P-1 and Exh.P-2 in order to defeat the claim of the plaintiff. Falsehood of the claim of the 1st defendant was writ large on the face of it. Trial court could have also compared the signatures of the 1st defendant as provided in Sectio ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... entered into through the 2nd defendant whom the 1st defendant had authorised to enter into any such agreement on his behalf. The plaintiff could not have paid to the 1st defendant rupees one lakh but for the agreement to sell in respect of ground floor of his property. It is only on the basis of this agreement (Exh.P-2) which is entered into by the 2nd defendant on the strength of Exh.P-1 that the plaintiff paid rupees one lakh each to the 1st and 2nd defendants. If we accept the pleadings of the 1st defendant then the amount of rupees one lakh had been given by the plaintiff under some mistake. In any case, it was not a payment gratuitously made. Doctrine of undue enrichment would squarely apply in the present case and the plaintiff would ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ratuitously; and the third condition is that the other person for whom something is done or to whom something is delivered must enjoy the benefit thereof. If these conditions are satisfied, Section 70 imposes upon the latter person the liability to make compensation to the former in respect of, or to restore, the thing so done or delivered. The important point to notice is that in a case falling under Section 70 the person doing something for another or delivering something to another cannot sue for the specific performance of the contract, nor ask for damages for the breach of the contract, for the simple reason that there is no contract between him and the other person for whom he does something or to whom he delivers something. So where ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ork. The right here is not peculiar to equity or contract or tort, but falls naturally within the important category of cases where the court orders restitution if the justice of the case so requires. It is unfortunate that the courts below were not attentive to the procedural laws and their duty to do substantial justice in the case. Had that been so the plaintiff would have been spared the tribulations of knocking at the doors of the highest court of the land. Courts below fell into error in going into the question of privity of contract and lost sight of the basic issue involved in the case. It was a case where perhaps action could have been taken against the 1st defendant as he was apparently guilty of perjury in not only denying ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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