1. Specific relief act was made in 1963 and was further amended in 2018. We see tremendous economic development in our country after the formation of the Specific Relief Act of 1963, which has further helped to increase the commercial activities of our country like the foreign direct investment, public-private partnership, public utility infrastructure development, etc.
2. With passaging time the outdated laws present in SRA 1963, lead to delaying of infrastructure projects and other contractual projects. To tackle this situation amendment to SRA was made in 2018.
3. With the new amendment, the government changed the complete overview of the Specific Relief Act. Earlier damages were taken as norm overlooking specific performance, but now with the new laws, specific performances are the norm.
4. The following are the key features of the Specific Relief (Amendment) Act 2018; Recovery of possession, specific performance as a general rule, substituted performance, Injunction, Special Courts, Experts.
5. The motive of this amendment is to ease the businesses of India so that contractors can execute the contracts in time, specific performances should be possible along with an added focus on infrastructure projects.
6. A new term ‘Substituted Performance’ is added to the SRA; The following situation can understand which. If two parties agreed to a contract where the second party takes money from the first party and has to fulfill the contract within a certain deadline. If the second party does not work, then the first party can get the contract executed by a third party by serving a notice to the second party. The notice period will be 30 days and the second party will also pay the price charged by the third party.
7. Regarding the infrastructure projects, Section 20A specifies that there will be no injunction related to infrastructure projects so that there is no delay to such projects. In situations where Injunction is mandatory, the Court provides limited time for that.
8. The State Government with the consultation of Chief Justice of the High Court will work towards the formation of the Special Court to deal with these issues. This is specified in Section 20B.
9. Section 20C specifies that all cases file under CPC must be disposed within 12 months with a maximum remedy of 6 months. This law facilitates faster remedy and avoids a longer delay in the fulfillment of contracts.
10. Section 11 of the Specific Relief Act specifies that where the contracts are connected wholly or partially with trust, the Court should enforce specific performance. A court cannot enforce a contract made by a trustee over his powers or breach of trust.
11. According to Section 14, the following contracts are not specifically enforceable;
1. A contract where a party to the contract has got substituted performance.
2. A contract where the specific performance involves the performance of continuous duty.
3. Contract dependent on the personal qualifications of the parties.
4. A contract which is its nature determinable.
12. Section 14A gives the court the power to engage one or more than one expert if the court considers it necessary to get an expert opinion.
13. Specific performance of a contract is not enforceable in the following situations:
1. If a party has got substituted performance.
2. If a party becomes incapable of performing or violating any essential term of the contract.
3. If a party does not prove that he has performed or will perform the essential terms of a contract.
This article is written for educational purposes, this is not for any kind of advertisement of the writer.