GOMATHINAYAGAM PILLAI AND ORS. vs PALLANISWAMI NADAR

The Supreme Court held that under Section 55 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872, time is not automatically of the essence of a contract unless expressly stated. The Court found that while the High Court correctly ruled that time was not of the essence, the Trial Court's finding that the respondent was not ready and willing to perform his part of the contract was valid. Consequently, the decree for specific performance was denied as the respondent failed to demonstrate readiness to perform the contract within the stipulated time frames.