Allahabad HC: Lis Pendens applies even to court auction sales

The Allahabad High Court has ruled that the principle of lis pendens applies even to a court auction sale, an involuntary alienation, and the auction purchaser takes the property subject to the outcome of a suit already pending over it. The Court clarified that notice of the prior claim or agreement is not the basis for the doctrine, it operates because of the pendency of the litigation itself.

Justice Arun Kumar held that a purchaser without notice cannot defeat the operation of lis pendens. The Court stated that where a suit for specific performance relating to immovable property is pending before a court auction, the purchaser at such auction takes the property subject to the result of the pending litigation. This applies notwithstanding that the auction is an involuntary alienation, though it does not dispense with the plaintiff's need to establish independent entitlement to specific performance.

The case involved Nawab Singh, who allegedly agreed to sell land to Babu Singh in 1972. Babu Singh sued for specific performance in October 1973. Meanwhile, Chhajju Ram obtained a money decree against Nawab Singh and bought the same land at a court auction in April 1974. Both trial courts decreed specific performance, and the High Court dismissed the second appeal, rejecting arguments that the doctrine is confined to voluntary transfers and that an earlier execution order operated as res judicata.