01/06/2023
2021 SCMR 198
Specific Relief Act. Ss. 39 & 42---
Suit for declaration of a document' and 'suit for cancellation of a document'---Distinction between both remedies---Marked yet subtle distinction existed between a suit for cancellation of a document under S. 39 of the Specific Relief Act, 1877 ('Act of 1877'), and a suit for declaration of a document under S. 42 of the Act of 1877---Crucial feature determining which remedy the aggrieved person was to adopt, was: whether the document was void or voidable---In case of a Voidable document , for instance, where the document was admitted to have been executed by the executant, but was challenged for his consent having been obtained by coercion, fraud, misrepresentation or undue influence, then the person aggrieved only had the remedy of instituting a suit for cancellation of that document under S. 39 of the Act of 1877, and a suit for declaration regarding the said document under S. 42 was not maintainable---On the other hand, in respect of a void document, for instance, when the ex*****on of the document was denied as being forged or procured through deceit about the very nature of the document, then the person aggrieved had the option to institute a suit, either for cancellation of that instrument under S. 39 of the Act of 1877, or for declaration of his right not to be affected by that document under S. 42 of the Act of 1877; it was not necessary for him to file a suit for cancellation of the void document
