The defendants in a suit for permanent injunction disputed the plaintiff's title, raising the question whether the injunction suit could proceed to decide title, or whether the plaintiff had to file a separate suit for declaration of title first. The Supreme Court held that a suit for injunction alone is maintainable, with title decided only as an incidental issue, where the plaintiff is in settled possession and the title question is simple; but where title is genuinely and seriously disputed on complicated facts, the plaintiff must be relegated to a full suit for declaration of title, with injunction as consequential relief. The judgment is the standard citation on when declaratory relief is a precondition to injunctive relief in property suits.

Specific Relief Act, 1963 -- S. 34 -- suit for injunction alone versus suit for declaration of title -- when declaratory relief must be sought -- When a suit for injunction simpliciter is maintainable -- Held: Where a plaintiff is in settled possession of property and merely seeks to restrain interference with that possession, a suit for permanent injunction alone is maintainable even if the defendant sets up a rival claim to title, provided the title question raised is simple and does not require a full trial on complicated questions of fact and law. The court trying the injunction suit may, in such a case, examine title only as an incidental issue. When the plaintiff must be relegated to a suit for declaration -- Held further: Where the dispute genuinely involves complicated or seriously contested questions of title -- requiring detailed evidence and extended trial -- it is not appropriate to decide title merely as an incidental issue in an injunction suit. In such cases the proper course is for the plaintiff to be relegated to filing a comprehensive suit for declaration of title, with injunction as ancillary or consequential relief, rather than seeking injunction alone. Rationale -- Held further: A plaintiff with clear title and possession should not be compelled to incur the cost and delay of a declaratory suit merely because the defendant vexatiously denies title. Equally, a plaintiff with a genuinely disputed or unclear title cannot obtain injunctive relief by suppressing the real controversy and confining the suit to injunction alone.

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