Development of Rule of Estoppel under The English Law and The Indian Law

Development of Rule of Estoppel under The English Law.

The Rule of Estoppel was developed in the English Law under the following two cases :-

1)  Picard Vs. Sears.

In this case, A person sold a property to someone pretending that it was his property. Later after selling the property, the seller gets same property through succession. And so the seller tries to avoid the sale deed and tells the buyer to give back the property because the sale is void as during the time of sale, the seller didn't had the ownership title to the property. 

The court estopped the seller from denying the sale and further presenting any truth. And the sale was held valid.

This case developed the principles of Rule of Estoppel in English Law. 

And the rule of this case was also formulated in Section 115 of the Indian Evidence Act and incorporated in India.

2) Hughes Vs. Metropolitan Railway Company. 

In this case, A person named Hughes gave his land on lease to the Metropolitan Railway Company, to conduct repair works. He also put a condition that if  the work is not completed within a month than the lease would get canceled. However the work did not complete within the time allotted. 

The Court held that the condition was void but the lease was valid and time of completion of work can be extended.

Development of Rule of Estoppel under The Indian Law.  

The rule of estoppel in India was developed through the case "Picard Vs. Sears" which is an English case law. The rule of this case formulated the section 115 of the Indian Evidence Act and incorporated in India.

The following are the Indian case laws which further implemented the rule of estoppel in India:-

1)  Sourujmull and Ors. Vs. The Ganges Manufacturing Co. (1880)

In this case Calcutta High court stated that "Doctrine of estoppel" not only stops a person from representing the truth but also stops a person from further telling lies and misrepresenting or doing any fraud actions.

The court also stated that the doctrine of estoppel has a wide scope and it is not limited to only law of evidence.

2) Pratima Chaudhary Vs. Kalpana Mukherjee (2014)

In this case the Supreme Court explained the rule of estoppel and held that Doctrine of Estoppel is based on fairness.

Reference:-

Textbook - Principles of the law of Evidence, Fifteenth Edition by Dr. Avtar Singh.