QADEER AHMAD vs (Mst.) JANAT BIBI and others

This matter concerns a petition for leave to appeal before the Supreme Court of Pakistan arising from a suit for specific performance of a contract for the sale of land. The core legal question presented for consideration is whether a court is legally justified in denying the equitable relief of specific performance solely because the plaintiff, in their plaint, has included an alternative prayer for the return of earnest money. The Supreme Court granted leave to appeal to examine the propriety of denying specific performance based on the inclusion of such alternative relief. The Court's order focuses on the procedural and substantive implications of alternative pleading in specific performance suits, specifically whether claiming the return of earnest money as a fallback position precludes the primary remedy of specific performance. By granting leave, the Court has signaled its intent to settle the principle regarding whether alternative prayers in a plaint are mutually exclusive or permissible under the law of contract and civil procedure, thereby clarifying the scope of judicial discretion in granting specific performance when alternative financial relief is also sought.