On the Supreme Court’s colour-coded chart every other High Court showed blue and Delhi showed red, and the Court now wants the Delhi High Court to explain the Pendency Of Execution Petitions there.
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New Delhi: The Supreme Court is set to ask the Delhi High Court why execution petitions remain so heavily pending in Delhi. On Wednesday it recorded that nearly two lakh execution petitions were disposed of across High Courts in the last six months, and said it will call for an explanation on the factors behind the Delhi backlog [Periyammal and Others v. V. Rajamani and Another].
The matter was heard on October 7, 2026, by a Bench of Justice J.B. Pardiwala and Justice K. Vinod Chandran, in proceedings the Court has been monitoring on delays in executing civil decrees. It will be taken up next on October 14, 2026.
The figures on the table
As per the figures placed before the Court, 8,82,578 execution petitions are pending across the country. Maharashtra accounts for more than 3.4 lakh of them, Tamil Nadu for over 86,000, Kerala for over 83,000, Andhra Pradesh for over 68,000 and Uttar Pradesh for over 27,000.
Why Delhi stood out
While going through the High Court-wise data, Justice Pardiwala picked out Delhi. Looking at the colour-coded status chart, the Judge remarked that every other High Court showed an improved position, with Delhi the outlier.
“Everything is blue. Delhi is red as usual. Why so much of pendency in Delhi?”
An order will follow, the Bench indicated, asking the Delhi High Court to explain what is standing in the way of expeditious disposal of execution petitions.
What slows execution, and what the Union must do
Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan listed the impediments: interim orders, objection applications, counsel being unavailable, and the use in the Delhi High Court of powers under Section 151 of the Code of Civil Procedure, following certain Division Bench judgments.
Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati was directed to take up with the concerned departments the proposed “cell” and the proposed inclusion of execution matters in the legislative schedule.
Where this is heading
A decree means little until it is executed, and the Supreme Court is treating delay in execution as a systemic problem, not a string of individual grievances. Putting every High Court on one chart and asking the worst-placed one to account for itself makes transparency the Bench’s tool.
What the Delhi High Court says in reply, and what the Union does about the proposed cell, will shape how fast decree-holders get relief in the next phase of this monitoring.
Case Title: Periyammal and Others v. V. Rajamani and Another
Bench: Justice J.B. Pardiwala and Justice K. Vinod Chandran, Supreme Court of India
Date of Hearing: October 7, 2026
Appearances: Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan; Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati