Specific Performance of the Contract — MCQs

All questions with answers and explanations

Read the full set here, or use the practice card above to test yourself one question at a time.

1. After the 2018 amendment, Section 10 provides that specific performance:

   • May be enforced at the court's discretion
   • Shall be enforced, subject only to Sections 11(2), 14 and 16 (correct answer)
   • Can never be enforced against the Government
   • Is enforced only for movable property

   Explanation. Section 10, as substituted in 2018, makes specific performance mandatory subject only to the three named exceptions.

2. Which of the following is NOT one of the four categories of contract excluded under Section 14?

   • A contract dependent on personal qualifications
   • A contract determinable in nature
   • A contract for sale of a specific house (correct answer)
   • A contract requiring a continuous duty the court cannot supervise

   Explanation. A contract for sale of a specific house is normally specifically enforceable; the four exclusions are substituted performance obtained, unsupervisable continuous duty, personal-skill contracts, and determinable contracts.

3. Which ground for refusing specific performance was REMOVED by the 2018 amendment?

   • Personal-skill contracts
   • Compensation in money being adequate relief (correct answer)
   • Determinable contracts
   • Unsupervisable continuous duty

   Explanation. The old ground that 'compensation in money is adequate relief' was removed from Section 14 by the 2018 amendment.

4. Under Section 11(2), a contract cannot be specifically enforced against a trustee if:

   • It was made within his powers
   • It was made in excess of his powers or in breach of trust (correct answer)
   • It benefits the trust
   • It is registered

   Explanation. A contract made by a trustee in excess of his powers or in breach of trust cannot be specifically enforced.

5. Under Section 12(2), where a small, compensable part of a contract remains unperformed, the court may:

   • Refuse the entire suit
   • Direct performance of the rest, with compensation for the deficiency (correct answer)
   • Cancel the whole contract automatically
   • Order only damages, no performance

   Explanation. Section 12(2) allows the court to direct performance of the performable part along with compensation for the small unperformed part.

6. Katta Sujatha Reddy v. Siddamsetty Infra Projects (2022) held the 2018 amendment to the Specific Relief Act prospective. What happened to that judgment on review in 2024?

   • It was affirmed in full
   • It was recalled on 8 November 2024, without the Court deciding the prospectivity point again (correct answer)
   • The 2018 amendment was struck down
   • Parliament repealed the 2018 amendment

   Explanation. The Supreme Court recalled the 2022 judgment on review on 8 November 2024 (2024 INSC 861) without deciding the point again.

7. Section 13 protects a purchaser or lessee where the vendor/lessor:

   • Has no title or only an imperfect title (correct answer)
   • Has already registered the sale
   • Is a minor
   • Lives abroad

   Explanation. Section 13 gives the purchaser/lessee real remedies where the vendor/lessor has no title, or only an imperfect title, to the property.

8. Section 14A, introduced in 2018, allows the court to:

   • Waive court fees
   • Engage experts on technical issues in a suit (correct answer)
   • Skip the trial entirely
   • Refer every case to arbitration

   Explanation. Section 14A lets the court engage one or more experts to assist on specific technical issues in a suit under the Act.

9. Under Section 21(2), if the court refuses specific performance but finds a broken contract and the plaintiff entitled to compensation, it:

   • Must dismiss the suit
   • Shall award compensation for the breach (correct answer)
   • May award nothing
   • Must order a refund only

   Explanation. Section 21(2): the court shall award compensation if the plaintiff is entitled to it for the breach. Under Section 21(5) the plaintiff must have claimed it in the plaint, but the court must allow an amendment at any stage.

10. Under Section 22, a person suing for specific performance of a contract to transfer immovable property may also ask for:

    • Possession, and refund of earnest money if performance is refused (correct answer)
    • Only damages
    • Only an injunction
    • Only a declaration

    Explanation. Section 22 allows possession, or partition and separate possession, and any other relief including refund of earnest money or deposit if specific performance is refused.

11. Under Section 23, a named sum payable on breach:

    • Bars specific performance
    • Does not bar specific performance if it was named only to secure performance (correct answer)
    • Is always a penalty
    • Is payable in addition to performance

    Explanation. Section 23(1): the contract can still be enforced if the sum was named only to secure performance and not to give the defaulter an option to pay instead. Under Section 23(2) the court cannot also decree the named sum.

12. Under Section 24, dismissal of a suit for specific performance bars the plaintiff from suing for:

    • Any relief
    • Compensation for the breach of that contract (correct answer)
    • A declaration
    • An injunction for a different wrong

    Explanation. It bars compensation for the breach but not any other relief to which the plaintiff is entitled.

13. Under Section 15(b), a party's representative in interest cannot sue for specific performance where the contract depended on:

    • The market price of goods
    • Personal learning, skill, or solvency of the original party (correct answer)
    • The location of the property
    • The date of registration

    Explanation. The proviso to Section 15(b) bars a representative/principal from suing where personal learning, skill, or solvency was a material ingredient of the contract.

14. Which of the following is NOT a personal bar to relief under Section 16?

    • Having obtained substituted performance under Section 20
    • Failing to prove readiness and willingness to perform
    • Living outside the state where the contract was made (correct answer)
    • Acting in fraud of the contract

    Explanation. Living outside the state is not a bar under Section 16 — the actual bars relate to substituted performance, fraud/violation of terms, and failure to prove readiness and willingness.

15. The 2018 amendment to Section 16(c) removed the requirement that the plaintiff:

    • Prove readiness and willingness
    • Specifically plead (aver) readiness and willingness in the plaint (correct answer)
    • Pay court fees
    • File within limitation

    Explanation. 2018 dropped the requirement to specifically plead readiness and willingness, leaving only the burden of proof.

16. In Saradamani Kandappan v. S. Rajalakshmi (2011), the agreement fixed dated instalments and made payment on those dates the essence. The Supreme Court held that:

    • Time for payment was of the essence, even for immovable property, so cancellation for default was justified (correct answer)
    • Time is never of the essence in a sale of immovable property
    • The buyer could withhold payment until the sellers showed title, in every case
    • Filing within limitation alone entitles the plaintiff to a decree

    Explanation. The Court held that where the contract fixes dated instalments and treats those dates as the essence, time for payment is of the essence and default justifies cancellation.

17. Under Section 17, a vendor cannot get specific performance against the buyer if:

    • He has clear title
    • He has no title, or cannot cure imperfect title by the completion date (correct answer)
    • The buyer paid in cash
    • The property is agricultural land

    Explanation. Section 17 bars specific performance in favour of a vendor/lessor with no title, or unable to give clear title by the fixed date.

18. Section 18's "non-enforcement except with variation" applies where:

    • The written contract correctly records the parties' agreement
    • Fraud, mistake, or misrepresentation caused the document to differ from what was actually agreed (correct answer)
    • The contract is oral
    • Both parties are companies

    Explanation. Section 18 applies where fraud, mistake of fact, or misrepresentation caused the written contract to differ from the parties' real agreement.

19. Under Section 20, before undertaking substituted performance, the injured party must give the party in breach:

    • A 7-day verbal notice
    • A 30-day written notice (correct answer)
    • No notice at all
    • A court order

    Explanation. Section 20(2) requires a written notice of not less than 30 days before substituted performance may be undertaken.

20. Once a party exercises substituted performance under Section 20, he:

    • Loses the right to claim compensation for the breach
    • Loses the right to also claim specific performance of the same contract (correct answer)
    • Must return all sums already paid
    • Cannot recover any expenses

    Explanation. Section 20(3) provides that once substituted performance is exercised, the right to claim specific performance of the same contract is lost, though compensation under Section 20(4) is still available.