I am the office bearer of an educational trust. The Trust owns an old building which is presently occupied by its previous employee since 1993 for which no rent is claimed by the Trust.The previous board of trustees permitted him to stay in the suit premises free of cost. The Trust issued a legal notice asking the occupant to vacate the suit premises and subsequently filed a suit for possession. The defendant filed his written statement and has laid a counter claim against the Trust that he holds an oral agreement of sale in respect of the suit property said to have been executed in March- 1987 by the previous board of trustees in his favour and has sought a decree of specific performance. He has also stated that he is in occupation of the suit property in part performance of the agreement of sale. Whether it is legally permissible for the defendant to seek a decree of specific performance by way of a counter claim in his written statement in a suit for possession filed against him.?
