Kind of relief in Specific Relief Act
Introduction
As the main objectives of the Act have been vested in the very title of this statute i.e. Specific Relief,
due to which we can have a basic understanding that the Specific Relief Act is a legal statute dealing
with reliefs or recovery of the damages of the injured person. This Act was enacted in 1963 following
the approach that when a person has withdrawn himself from the performance of a particular
promise or a contract with respect to another person, the other person so aggrieved is entitled to a
relief under Specific Relief Act, 1963. This Act is considered to be in one of the branches of the Indian
Contracts Act, 1872.
The Specific Relief Act, 1963 provides various kinds of reliefs to a person who has
suffered an injury or is seeking enforcement of a right or duty. Some of the major
kinds of relief provided under the act are:
1. Injunctions: An injunction is an order of the court that prohibits a person from
doing a particular act or requires a person to do a particular act. There are two
types of injunctions: (a) Permanent injunction and (b) Temporary injunction.
2. Declaration: A declaration is a judicial pronouncement that declares the
existence of a right or a title to a property.
3. Specific performance: Specific performance is a relief that requires a person to
perform a contract in accordance with its terms.
4. Rescission: Rescission is a relief that enables a person to cancel a contract and
restore the parties to their original positions.
5. Rectification: Rectification is a relief that enables a person to correct a mistake
in a written instrument.
6. Cancellation: Cancellation is a relief that enables a person to cancel a
registered document.
7. Accounts: Accounts is a relief that enables a person to get an account of the
profits made by the other party in a contract.
8. Delivery of Possession: Delivery of possession is a relief that enables a person
to get physical possession of property.
9. Partition: Partition is a relief that enables a person to divide joint property into
separate shares.
These are some of the major kinds of relief provided under the Specific Relief Act,
1963.
The Specific Relief Act
provides for specific reliefs.
Specific relief means relief of
certain
species, i.e. an exact or
particular, a named, fixed or
determined relief. The term is
generally
understood and providing
relief of a specific kind rather
than a general relief or
damages or
compensation. It is a remedy
which aims at the exact
fulfillment of an obligation or
specific
performance of the contract.
For instance if some body
unlawfully dispossesses me
of my
property, the general relief
may be requiring the defendant
to pay me compensation
equivalent
to the loss suffered by me due
to dispossession. Specific
relief may enable me to have
the
possession of the same
property over again by
requiring the defendant to
restore possession of
my property. Specific
performance is generally
granted when there exist
no standard for
ascertaining actual damages,
for instance the object of the
sale is picture by the dead
painter, or
where compensation in money
will not provide adequate
relief to the plaintiff.
The Specific Relief Act, 1963
extends to the whole of India,
except the State of Jammu
and Kashmir. The Specific
Relief Act deals only with
certain kinds of equitable
reliefs and these
are now:
i) Recovery of possession
of property
ii) Specific Performance of
contracts
iii) Rectification of
Instruments
iv) Rescission of Contracts
v) Cancellation of
instruments
vi) Declaratory decrees
vii) Injunctions
