The Scheme of the Specific Relief Act 1963

In one line

Four short opening sections set the frame for the whole Act: what it is called and where it applies, what its words mean, what it leaves untouched, and the one thing it may never be used for.

In the words a student can write in an exam: section 1 of the Specific Relief Act 1963 gives the short title and extent and provides for commencement by notification; section 2 defines obligation, settlement, trust and trustee, and imports every other defined expression from the Indian Contract Act 1872; section 3 saves rights to relief other than specific performance under any contract and the operation of the Indian Registration Act 1908; and section 4 provides that "Specific relief can be granted only for the purpose of enforcing individual civil rights and not for the mere purpose of enforcing a penal law."

Why a preliminary Part matters

It is tempting to skip the definitions. Two of them decide cases in this Module.

Section 2(e) imports the whole vocabulary of the Contract Act into this Act. So "contract", "agreement", "void", "voidable", "consideration" and "coercion" mean here exactly what Module II decided they mean. That is what joins the Specific Relief Act to the first three Modules, and it is why this paper sets them together.

Section 4 is the limit on the whole Act. Every remedy in it is subject to that one sentence.

The provisions

Section 1:

"(1) This Act may be called the Specific Relief Act, 1963.

(2) It extends to the whole of India.

(3) It shall come into force on such date as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint."

Two points from the Act's own footnotes. The words "except the State of Jammu and Kashmir" were omitted by Act 34 of 2019, so the Act now extends to the whole of India without qualification. And the date appointed under sub-section (3) was 1 March 1964, by notification S.O. 189 dated 13 January 1964.

Section 2:

"In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,

(a) 'obligation' includes every duty enforceable by law;

(b) 'settlement' means an instrument (other than a will or codicil as defined by the Indian Succession Act, 1925) whereby the destination or devolution of successive interests in movable or immovable property is disposed of or is agreed to be disposed of;

(c) 'trust' has the same meaning as in section 3 of the Indian Trusts Act, 1882, and includes an obligation in the nature of a trust within the meaning of Chapter IX of that Act;

(d) 'trustee' includes every person holding property in trust;

(e) all other words and expressions used herein but not defined, and defined in the Indian Contract Act, 1872, have the meanings respectively assigned to them in that Act."