8. EQUITY LOOKS ON THAT AS DONE WHICH OUGHT TO BE DONE Meaning If someone undertakes an obligation for the other, equity courts look on it as done and as producing the same results as if the obligation had been actually performed. Equity courts therefore look to the acts of the person bound by his conscience and interpret and construe them in such a way that they amount to what ought to be done. Application and cases If A makes T trustee leaving 50,000 Taka to purchase a land for the use of B. T does not purchase the land and by the time, B dies leaving all immovable property to X and all movable property to Y. Now, who should get the 50,000 Taka? Equity in such cases would definitely regard the purchase of land which ought to have been made as made. The money thus goes to X. The working of this maxim can be seen- i) the doctrine of conversion ii) Executory contracts iii) doctrine of part performance i) Doctrine of conversion- In the case of Lachmere v. Lady Lachmere, money was taken as land. Doctrine of conversion can convert the money into immovable property and immovable property into money. ii) Executory contracts- (a) Assignment of future property: When an assignment of property was made for consideration equity treated it as a contract to assign. When the property came into existence in such a contract it was treated as a complete assignment. As a leading case on this point, Holroyd v. Marshall can be cited. (b) Agreement for a transfer: In Walsh v. Lonsdale, it was decided that an agreement for lease could be treated as a lease in equity. iii) Doctrine of part performance: Under the equitable doctrine of part performance contracts pertaining to land were allowed to be formed by oral evidence where one of the parties did acts of pats performance. Maddison v. Alderson is a leading case on this point. Recognition Many of the doctrines of English equity have taken statutory form in Bangladesh. Insofar as equitable assignments are concerned no equitable estate is recognized in Bangladesh. A transfer of future property for consideration operates as a contract to be performed in future. i) The Transfer of Property Act- A Contracts to sell Sultanpur to B. While the contract is still in force, he sells Sultanpur to C, who has notice of the contract. B may enforce the contract against C to the same extent as against A. ii) The Specific Relief Act- Section 12 relating to the specific performance of part of a contract also illustrates the application of the maxim. iii) The Trust Act- Where a person acquires property with notice that another person has entered into an existing contract affecting that property, the former must hold the property for the benefit of the latter.
Posted on: Mon, 15 Dec 2014 09:48:03 +0000
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