Sushma Shivkumar Daga & Anr. vs. Madhurkumar Ramkrishnaji Bajaj & Ors. [2023 INSC 1081]
Dispute seeking cancellation of a document relating to immovable property is arbitrable
RELEVANT PARAGRAPH
19. The second is that the suit filed by the appellants is for cancellation of a document relating to immovable property i.e. land and it therefore amounts to an action in rem and hence arbitration is not the remedy. This question however, is no more res integra. Elaborate analysis on this aspect has been done by this Court in the case of Deccan Paper Mills v. Regency Mahavir Properties, (2021) 4 SCC 786, therein this court after referring to all the relevant precedents and the case laws has held that whether it is a suit for cancellation of a deed or a declaration of rights rising from the deed, it would only be an action in personam and not in rem. The decision of the Division Bench of Andhra Pradesh High Court in Aliens Developers (P) Ltd. v. Janardhan Reddy, 2015 SCC Online Hyd 370, was held to be wrong wherein it was held that a suit under Section 31 of Specific Relief Act amounts to an action in rem and this adjudicatory function can only be done by the Competent Civil Court and the powers cannot be exercised by an Arbitrator. The basic foundation of the Court for holding that a Section 31 suit for cancellation of a document amounts to an action in rem was held to be wrong. The entire scope and ambit of the Specific Relief Act, 1963 was considered and in Deccan Paper Mills (supra), the anomalies in law for holding such to be an action in rem were discussed and it was held that a relief sought under the Specific Relief Act is nothing but an action in personam.