Lis pendens means a suit under consideration of any court of law. It is an action which is pending in any court. The doctrine is enshrined under Section 52 of the Transfer of Property Act, 1882. This section is based on the maxim ‘ut lite pendente nihil innovetur' which means that nothing new should be introduced into a pending litigation. Therefore, the property which is in dispute should not either be sold or otherwise dealt in by any party to the dispute during the pendency of the suit or proceeding.
The doctrine of lis pendens incorporated under Section 52 of the 1929 Act, means to say that During the pendency 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.
The Supreme Court in Jayaram Mudaliar v. Ayyaswami AIR 1973 SC 569, para. 47 founded the following definition:
lis pendens literally means a pending suit, and the doctrine of lis pendens has been defined as the jurisdiction, power, or control which a court acquires over property involved in a suit pending the continuance of the action, and until final judgment therein.
As was observed by the Supreme Court in Jayaram's case:
Expositions of the doctrine indicate that the need for it arises from the very nature of the jurisdiction of Courts and their control over the subject-matter of litigation so that parties litigating before it may not remove any part of the subject-matter outside the power of the Court to deal with it and thus make the proceedings infructuous.
