The 2018 Amendment to the Specific Relief Act made specific performance
AAvailable only in contracts of land sale
BDiscretionary and exceptional
CThe default rule — specific performance is now to be enforced as a matter of course unless one of the listed bars in Section 14 applies; the court's earlier wide discretion under the old Section 20 has been removed
DAvailable only with the consent of both parties
Answer & Solution
Correct answer: C. The default rule — specific performance is now to be enforced as a matter of course unless one of the listed bars in Section 14 applies; the court's earlier wide discretion under the old Section 20 has been removed
Pre-2018, Section 20 vested wide discretion in the court to refuse specific performance even where the technical conditions were met. Post-2018, that discretion was significantly curtailed: specific performance is now generally to be granted absent specific statutory bars.
Related questions
The interface between Section 6 SRA (recovery of possession on the basis of possession) anWhich of the following is the BEST illustration of a contract that is 'determinable in nat'Substituted performance' under Section 20 SRA (post-2018) operatesThe 'ready and willing' requirement under Section 16(c) SRA must be pleaded and provedA 'mandatory injunction' under Section 39 SRAThe principle that 'equity treats as done that which ought to have been done' is reflectedUnder Section 53A of the TRANSFER OF PROPERTY Act 1882 (read with SRA principles), the docIn K Narendra v Riviera Apartments (1999), the Supreme Court refused specific performance