In a suit for specific performance of a contract for the sale of a 50-year-old painting, section 21(1)…

Section 21(1) of the Specific Relief Act, 1963, as amended with effect from 1 October 2018, provides that in a suit for specific performance of a contract the plaintiff may also claim compensation for its breach in addition to such performance (the earlier words "either in addition to, or in substitution of" were replaced by "in addition to"). Under section 21(2), if the court decides that specific performance ought not to be granted but that the defendant has broken the contract and the plaintiff is entitled to compensation, it shall award such compensation; under section 21(5), compensation must be claimed in the plaint, though the court shall allow the plaint to be amended at any stage to include it.

"Only in substitution of such performance" contradicts the amended wording of section 21(1). A separate suit after dismissal is not available, because under section 24 the dismissal of a suit for specific performance bars the plaintiff's right to sue for compensation for the breach. Since "in addition to such performance" is correct, "None of the given options is correct" is wrong.