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Section 57: Provision by Court for incumbrances and sale freed therefrom

Transfer of Property Act • Official Statutory Text & Practice Guide

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Competent Court / Tribunal
Act 1882
Section 56 All 137 Sections of Transfer of Property Act Section 58

Legal Commentary & Landmark Judgments: Section 57

Section 57 empowers civil courts to make provision for encumbrances on land and declare land sold by the court or out of court to be free from encumbrances upon payment of a capitalized deposit.

  • Court Power to Free Encumbrance: Where immoveable property subject to any encumbrance, whether immediately payable or not, is sold by the court or out of court.
  • Capitalized Court Deposit: Court may direct or allow payment into court: (a) of the capitalized amount sufficient to meet the encumbrance and interest, and (b) an additional sum to meet contingency expenses (up to 10%).
  • Declaration of Free Title: Upon deposit, the court may declare the property free from the encumbrance and issue an order of conveyance or vesting.
  • Vesting Order Conclusiveness: Title passes to the buyer completely purged of mortgages, annuities, and charges.
Key Landmark Precedents:
  • J.P. Builders v. A. Ramadas Rao, (2011) 1 SCC 429: The Supreme Court highlighted that Section 57 is an extraordinary statutory mechanism enabling courts in specific performance or partition suits to clear encumbrances and convey clean title to buyers.
  • B. Arvind Kumar v. Govt. of India, (2007) 5 SCC 745: Affirmed court powers under Section 57 to convey property freed from prior charges upon secure deposit.
Courtroom Practice & Strategic Litigation Guidance:

In specific performance suits where the vendor's property is encumbered by a private mortgage, apply under Section 57 to deposit the mortgage balance into court and obtain a decree conveying unencumbered title.

Section 56 All 137 Sections of Transfer of Property Act Section 58