Lis pendens
Latin: A pending suit.
Also called: Doctrine of lis pendens, Transfer pendente lite, Pendente lite nihil innovetur
While a suit about a right to immovable property is pending, a party cannot transfer the property so as to affect the other party's rights under the eventual decree.
Explained
Lis pendens means a pending suit, and the doctrine is sometimes expressed in the maxim pendente lite nihil innovetur, nothing new should be introduced while litigation is pending. In Indian law it is stated in Section 52 of the Transfer of Property Act, 1882. During the pendency of any suit or proceeding which is not collusive, in which any right to immovable property is directly and specifically in question, the property cannot be transferred or otherwise dealt with by any party so as to affect the rights of any other party under any decree or order that may be made, except under the authority of the court and on such terms as it may impose.
The conditions are a suit or proceeding pending in a competent court; the suit is not collusive; a right to immovable property is directly and specifically in question; and the transfer is by a party to the suit. Under the Explanation, pendency begins on presentation of the plaint or institution of the proceeding and continues until the suit has been disposed of by a final decree or order and complete satisfaction or discharge of it has been obtained, or has become unobtainable because the period of limitation for execution has expired.
The section does not make the transfer void. The transfer is valid between the transferor and the transferee, but it is subject to the result of the suit, and the transferee is bound by the decree as if he had been a party. The doctrine rests on necessity: otherwise no suit could be brought to a successful end. A transferee pendente lite with notice cannot claim the protection of a bona fide purchaser, though the court may add him as a party; Order XXII Rule 10 of the CPC allows a suit to be continued by or against a person on whom an interest has devolved during its pendency.
Examiners test when pendency ends, the collusive suit exception, the limitation to immovable property, and the effect of the transfer.
What the law says
During the [pendency] in any Court having authority [[within the limits of India excluding the State of Jammu and Kashmir] or established beyond such limits] by [the Central Government ***], of [any] suit or proceeding [which is not collusive and] in. which any right to immoveable property is directly and specifically in question, the property cannot be transferred or otherwise dealt with by any party to the suit or proceeding so as to affect the rights of any other party thereto under any decree or order which may be made therein, except under the authority of the Court and on such terms as it may impose.
[Explanation.—For the purposes of this section, the pendency of a suit or proceeding shall be deemed to commence from the date of the presentation of the plaint or the institution of the proceeding in a Court of competent jurisdiction, and to continue until the suit or proceeding has been disposed of by a final decree or order and complete satisfaction or discharge of such decree or order, has been obtained, or has become unobtainable by reason of the expiration of any period of limitation prescribed for the execution thereof by any law for the time being in force.]
States the rule of lis pendens and when pendency begins and ends
(1) In other cases of an assignment, creation or devolution of any interest during the pendency of a suit, the suit may, by leave of the Court, be continued by or against the person to or upon whom such interest has come or devolved.
(2) The attachment of a decree pending an appeal therefrom shall be deemed to be an interest entitling the person who procured such attachment to the benefit of sub-rule (1).
Suit continued by or against person on whom interest devolves pending suit
Example
For example, if A sues B for specific performance of an agreement to sell a house and B sells the house to C while the suit is pending, C takes it subject to the decree that may be passed in A's favour.
For the exam
- Section 52 TPA: applies only where a right to immovable property is directly and specifically in question.
- Does not apply to collusive suits.
- Pendency runs from presentation of the plaint until the decree is satisfied or becomes unexecutable.
- The transfer is not void; it is subject to the outcome of the suit.
- Transfer allowed with the court's authority and on its terms.
39 questions in the Law Maker question bank use this maxim. Practise Transfer of Property Act questions
Judgments
Related terms
- Transfer of propertyUnder Section 5 of the TPA, an act by which a living person conveys property, in present or in future, to one or more other living persons, or to himself and one or more other living persons.
- Immovable propertyLand, benefits to arise out of land, and things attached to the earth or permanently fastened to anything attached to the earth. Defined inclusively in Section 3(26) of the General Clauses Act, 1897.
- Res sub judiceA matter already pending before a court. Under Section 10 of the CPC, a court must not proceed with the trial of a later suit when the same matter is directly and substantially in issue in an earlier pending suit.
- DecreeThe formal expression of an adjudication that conclusively determines the rights of the parties on all or any matter in controversy in a suit, as defined in Section 2(2) of the CPC.
- SaleA transfer of ownership in exchange for a price paid or promised or part-paid and part-promised (Section 54 of the TPA). Sale of goods is governed separately by Section 4 of the Sale of Goods Act, 1930.
Further reading
Checked 6 November 2026. Statutory text is quoted from the Bare Acts library, taken from India Code. See the full glossary.