Madras High Court
Solai vs Jayaraman on 10 October, 2025
THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS
Judgment reserved on : 19.09.2025 Judgment pronounced on : 10.10.2025
CORAM
THE HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE P.B.BALAJI
A.S.No.88 of 2024
Solai ..Appellant
Vs.
1.Jayaraman
2.Vasudevan ..Respondent
Prayer: Appeal Suit filed under Section 96 of CPC, to set aside the judgment
and decree dated 07.09.2023 in O.S.No.79 of 2021 on the file of the Additional
District Court, Tiruvannamalai.
For Appellant : Mr.B.Jawahar
For Respondent : No appearance
JUDGMENT
The plaintiff in O.S.No.79 of 2021 before the Additional District Judge,
Tiruvannamalai, aggrieved by the disallowed suit claim, has preferred the
above first appeal.
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2.Despite service of notice, the respondent has not chosen to enter
appearance, either in person or through counsel. In fact, I find that even before
the trial Court, the defendants have remained ex-parte and have not contested
the suit.
3.I have heard Mr.B.Jawahar, learned counsel for the appellant.
4.Mr.B.Jawahar, learned counsel for the appellant would state that the
suit was filed by the plaintiff for recovery of Rs.11,51,971/-, being the amounts
payable towards principal and interest of Rs.10,00,000/- under two conditional
sale deeds dated 13.01.2020. He would invite my attention to the case of the
plaintiff that the defendants had borrowed monies from the plaintiff and they
had failed to repay the same and on persistent demands made by the plaintiff,
the 1st defendant executed a registered conditional sale deed dated 13.01.2020
for a sum of Rs.60,000/-, which was the prevailing guideline value. However,
in respect of the balance of Rs.9,40,000/-, the parties had entered into an
unregistered conditional sale deed on the same day i.e 13.01.2020. The 2 nd
defendant has signed the documents as a witness, being the son of the 1 st
defendant and according to the plaintiff, both the defendants have borrowed
monies for a total sum of Rs.10,00,000/-.
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5.The suit has been filed for recovery of Rs.11,51,971/-, together with
future interest. The plaintiff lodged a police complaint on 17.07.2020, since the
defendants were evading repayment of the huge amount borrowed from the
plaintiff. However, the defendants, from their side, had issued a lawyer's notice
on 10.07.2020 and according to the plaintiff, the legal notice has false and
untenable allegations. The plaintiff was therefore constrained to file the suit for
recovery of money due and payable from the defendants.
6.Before the Trial Court, on the side of the plaintiff, he examined himself
as P.W.1 marked Ex.A1 to Ex.A6 and on the side of the defendants, no one was
examined and no document was marked.
7.The trial Court, finding that the unregistered conditional sale deed was
inadmissible in view of the express bar under Section 17(1)(b) of the Indian
Registration Act, held that the plaintiff is not entitled to full relief and
proceeded to decree the suit only in respect of Rs.60,000/- covered by the
registered sale deed, Ex.A2 alone.
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8.The learned counsel for the appellant would contend that the plaintiff is
not claiming any right under the unregistered sale deed, Ex.A1 and the suit was
only for recovery of money in respect of monies paid under the said conditional
sale deed and the Court ought to have looked into the said document for
collateral purposes and proceeded to decree the suit, which is the only point
that arises for consideration in the present appeal, namely:
(i) whether the recitals in an unregistered sale deed, which
otherwise is compulsorily registrable under Section 17(1)(b) of
the Indian Registration Act, be looked into for collateral purposes
to enable a party to the said document to seek recovery of monies
due and payable under the said document.
9.There is no second opinion with regard to the inadmissibility of the
unregistered conditional sale deed, in view of the express embargo in Section
17(1)(b) of the Indian Registration Act. However, Section 49 of the said Act
enables the Court to look into a collateral transaction that is occurring in the
said unregistered document and for such limited purposes, even the
unregistered and inadmissible document can be looked into. The trial Court has
not even considered the mandate of Section 49 of the Act, leave alone applying
it to the facts of the present case.
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10.The learned counsel for the appellant would only seek for the matter
being remanded to the trial Court, in order to decide the issue of whether the
unregistered condition sale deed in Ex.A1 for a sum of Rs.9,40,000/- can be
treated as a collateral transaction for the limited purposes of enabling the
plaintiff to recover the said amount of Rs.9,40,000/-. In view of the above and
also considering the fact that the respondents have not chosen to appear in this
appeal, I do not deem it proper to decide this issue in the appeal. It would be
proper for me to remit the matter to the trial Court to decide the issue, after
giving an opportunity to both the parties.
11.In view of the above, the Appeal Suit is allowed. The judgment and
decree of the Additional District Court, Tiruvannamalai, dated 07.09.2023 in
O.S.No.79 of 2021 is set aside, insofar as the dismissal of the claim arising
under Ex.A1, unregistered sale deed alone. The trial Court shall afford an
opportunity to both the plaintiff and the defendants and decide the issue as to
whether the plaintiff is entitled to rely upon the payment of Rs.9,40,000/- as a
collateral transaction entitling him to maintain the suit for recovery of monies.
There shall bo no order as to costs.
10.10.2025
Neutral Citation Case : Yes / No
Speaking / Non-speaking order
Index : Yes/No
ata
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P.B.BALAJI.J,
ata
To
The Additional District Court, Tiruvannamalai.
Pre-delivery judgment made in
10.10.2025
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