Specific Relief Act Section 21 — Power to award compensation in certain cases
CHAPTER II SPECIFIC PERFORMANCE OF CONTRACTS
General
Summary
In a lawsuit asking the court to force someone to fulfill a contract, the person suing can also ask for money damages for the breach of that contract. If the court decides that forcing the contract to be fulfilled is not the right remedy, but the contract was indeed broken, the court must award the person suing money compensation for that breach. Similarly, if the court orders the contract to be fulfilled but finds that this alone is not enough to do justice, it can also award extra money compensation for the breach. The amount of this compensation is decided using the same rules as those for damages under the Indian Contract Act, and the person suing must have asked for this compensation in their original claim, though the court will allow them to amend their claim at any point to include it.
Official Text
(1) In a suit for specific performance of a contract, the plaintiff may also claim compensation for its breach 1[in addition to] such performance.
(2) If, in any such suit, the court decides that specific performance ought not to be granted, but that there is a contract between the parties which has been broken by the defendant, and that the plaintiff is entitled to compensation for that breach, it shall award him such compensation accordingly.
(3) If, in any such suit, the court decides that specific performance ought to be granted, but that it is not sufficient to satisfy the justice of the case, and that some compensation for breach of the contract should also be made to the plaintiff, it shall award him such compensation accordingly.
(4) In determining the amount of any compensation awarded under this section, the court shall be guided by the principles specified in section 73 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872 (9 of 1872).
(5) No compensation shall be awarded under this section unless the plaintiff has claimed such compensation in his plaint:
Provided that where the plaintiff has not claimed any such compensation in the plaint, the court shall, at any stage of the proceeding, allow him to amend the plaint on such terms as may be just, for including a claim for such compensation.
Explanation.—The circumstances that the contract has become incapable of specific performance does not preclude the court from exercising the jurisdiction conferred by this section.