Specific Relief Act, 1963
21. Power to award compensation in certain cases
(1) In a suit for a specific performance of a contract, the
plaintiff may also claim compensation for its breach, either in addition to, or
in substitution of, 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.
(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 circumstance that the contract has become
incapable of specific performance does not preclude the court from exercising
the jurisdiction conferred by this section.