A bench comprising Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice K Vinod Chandran has been hearing a matter concerning the disposal of pending execution petitions across the country. To recall, on March 6, 2025, the Supreme Court asked the High Courts to collate data on the pendency of 8.8 lac execution petitions across the District Courts nationwide. It appointed Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan as amicus in this case and set a deadline of six months to dispose of the petitions.

In today's hearing, the amicus referred to his report and pointed out that around 17,000 fresh execution petitions came to be pending before the Delhi High Court in the last six months. He stated that the reason could be that the division bench of the Delhi High Court in Delhi Chemicals and Pharmaceutical Works Pvt (2021) modified the earlier judgment of Bhandari Engineers, wherein the single judge had set mandatory guidelines for disclosure of assets and income by the judgment-debtor with an aim to dispose of the execution petitions.

On this, Justice Pardiwala asked if the division bench's judgment has been challenged or not. "Have you placed that division bench judgment or not? This DB judgment is creating trouble? This judgment was rendered in a litigation by two private parties and nobody has questioned this judgment so far? Because of this DB, this 151 [Code of Civil Procedure empowers the Court to make such orders as would be necessary to secure ends of justice or to prevent abuse of the process of the Court] powers are not being exercised. If this observation is coming in the way of executing Courts, we will have to do something."

Justice Pardiwala then stated that the Court will consider only the specific paragraph of the division bench's judgment which held that the single judge's order is not good law considering that it is coming in the way of the executing Courts.

The relevant paragraph says: "We are thus of the view that Bhandari Engineers & Builders Pvt. Ltd. supra, to the extent it extends what is laid down therein to execution proceedings pertaining to all money decrees and to all courts executing a money decree, cannot said to be good law. Axiomatically, what is held in Bhandari Engineers & Builders Pvt. Ltd. supra could not have been followed in the execution proceedings from which this appeal arises."

The bench ultimately kept the matter part-heard and stated that it will pass orders after incorporating fresh figures on the pendency of execution petitions recently received from the High Court. Today, it briefly discussed the figures and remarked that the Gujarat High Court has done exceedingly well in disposing of the execution petitions, followed by the Kerala High Court. It also considered the report of the amicus prepared with the assistance of his junior.

Remarking that its impressed by the report prepared by the junior, the bench requested him to provide further assistance to the Court as and when required.

The bench lastly reiterated that the government should bring an amendment to the Commercial Courts Act, 2015, to state that the execution in commercial suits will be as per the Commercial Court Rules, which have remained unnotified since 2021. Keeping the matter next Wednesday, the bench stated it will make some observations that would facilitate the Centre to bring the amendment.