DOCTRINE OF LIS PENDENS

By Ankit Raturi
[00516503516]
B.B.A. LL.B. (3rd Year)

Submitted to: Dr. Neelu Mehra

Introduction
Generally, the lis pendens doctrine states that a court which has acquired
jurisdiction of a cause of action is entitled to proceed to the final exercise of that
jurisdiction without the interference of anyone with the subject matter or res
before the court. Under this doctrine, one acquiring an interest in the property
involved in a lawsuit takes the interest subject to the parties' rights as finally
determined by the court.
Lis means an action or a suit, pendens is the present participle of “pendo”
meaning continuing or pending, thereby Lis Pendens literally means a pending
suit and the doctrine of Lis Pendens has been defined as the jurisdiction, power of
control over which a court acquires over property involved in a suit pending the
continuance of the action until the final judgement. Exposition of the doctrine
shows that the need of the doctrine arises from the very nature of the jurisdiction
of courts and their control over the subject matter of dispute, so that parties cant
remove some or all of the subject matter of dispute rendering proceedings
infructuous.
Mr. Justice Joseph Story expressed the rule and rationale of lis pendens as
follows:
"He who purchases during the pendency of a suit, is held bound by the decree
that may be made against the person from whom he derives title .... [I]t is a rule
founded upon a great public policy; for, otherwise, alienations made during a suit
might defeat its whole purpose, and there would be no end to litigation. And
hence arises the maxim, Pendente lite, nihil innovetur; the effect of which is not
to annul the conveyance, but only to render it subservient to the rights of the
parties in the litigation. As to the rights of the parties, the conveyance is treated
as if it never had any existence; and it does not vary them.”1

1
Texas Water Rights Commission et al., Petitioners V. Crow Iron Works, et al, 582 S.W.2d 768 (1979) S. Ct. of
Texas. May 30, 1979
Purpose
Generally speaking, the purpose of lis pendens notice is twofold: (1) to protect
the filing party's alleged rights to the property that is in dispute in the lawsuit, and
(2) to put those interested in the property on notice of the lawsuit. The purpose
of lis pendes is to preserve rights to the real estate until the dispute with the
owner is resolved. Without the recording of a lis pendens, the person claiming an
interest in title or possession to the real estate runs the risk that the owner will
encumber or convey the property to an individual who is unaware of the dispute.
When another buyer or lender obtains an interest in real estate before they
become aware of a dispute over title, the claimant in the dispute loses his right to
recover the real estate.
Nature and Scope
Two theories have been advanced as the basis of the doctrine. Accordinf to some
authorities, a pending suit must be regarded as notice to all the world, and
pursuant to this it is argued that the person who deals with property involved
therein, having presumably known what he was doing, must have acted in bad
faith and therefore, properly bound by the judgement rendered. Other
authorities states that doctrine of lis pendens is based upon the necessity, as a
matter of public policy, of preventing litigants from disposing off the property in
controvery in such matter as to interfere with execution of the court’s decree.
The basis of this doctn'ne was aptly explained by Lord Cranwonh in Bellamy v.
Sabine ( 1857), in the following words: “It is scarcely correct to speak of HS
pendens as aifecting the purchaser through the doctrine of notice, though
undoubtedly the language of the courts often so describes its operation. It affects
him not because it amounts to notice, but because the law does not allow litigant
pan'ies to give to others pending the litigation rights to the pmperty in dispute so
as to prejudice the opposite party.” The rule is based not on the doctrine of notice
but on principle of expediency and public policy. Hence, no question of good faith
or bonafides arises.