The Supreme Court has flagged a Delhi High Court Division Bench ruling as an obstacle to the speedy Execution Of Civil Decrees and indicated that it will have to do something about it.
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New Delhi: While monitoring the disposal of about 8.8 lakh pending execution petitions across the country, the Supreme Court on Wednesday questioned a Delhi High Court Division Bench judgment that, according to the amicus curiae, has contributed to a surge of fresh execution petitions in Delhi, and said it will reconsider the paragraph that conflicts with its own guidelines in Bhandari Engineers [Periyammal (Dead) Through LRs 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 Miscellaneous Application Nos. 1889-1891 of 2025 in Civil Appeal Nos. 3640-3642 of 2025. It has been kept part-heard for next Wednesday.
The monitoring so far
On March 6, 2025, the Court asked High Courts to collate pendency data on execution petitions pending in district courts and set a six-month deadline for their disposal. Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan was appointed amicus curiae to assist the Court in the exercise, and the amicus’s report for this hearing was prepared with the help of junior counsel.
The Delhi surge and the Division Bench ruling
Mr. Sankaranarayanan told the Bench that the Delhi High Court has seen a surge of roughly 17,000 fresh execution petitions over six months. He attributed it to a 2021 Division Bench judgment of that Court in the Delhi Chemicals and Pharmaceutical Works case, which modified the single judge’s order in Bhandari Engineers. Those guidelines required judgment-debtors to disclose their assets and income in money decree execution proceedings.
The paragraph under scrutiny reads, as reported:
“We are thus of the view that Bhandari Engineers…cannot said to be good law.”
Justice Pardiwala asked whether the ruling had ever been tested:
“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?”
He added: “If this observation is coming in the way of the executing Courts, we will have to do something.” The Bench indicated that it may intervene, and that it will reconsider the specific paragraph that runs contrary to Bhandari Engineers. It also noted the concern that, because of the ruling, the powers under Section 151 of the Code of Civil Procedure are not being exercised in the way the Court expects.
ALSO READ: Supreme Court Seeks Delhi High Court Explanation For High Pendency Of Execution Petitions
What else the Bench said
The Bench commended the disposal record of the Gujarat High Court, followed by the Kerala High Court. It also reiterated the need for the Union to amend the Commercial Courts Act, 2015 on execution in commercial suits. The Court will pass formal orders after it receives updated pendency figures from the High Courts, and asked the amicus to continue assisting it.
The Division Bench ruling has not been set aside, and the Court has not yet issued any direction on it. What the Supreme Court does with the contested paragraph at the next hearing will decide whether decree-holders in Delhi get the asset-disclosure route that Bhandari Engineers opened for them.
Case Details: Periyammal (Dead) Through LRs v. V. Rajamani and Another [MA Nos. 1889-1891 of 2025 in Civil Appeal Nos. 3640-3642 of 2025] | Court: Supreme Court of India | Bench: Justice J.B. Pardiwala and Justice K. Vinod Chandran | Hearing: October 7, 2026 | Status: Part-heard; next hearing next Wednesday.
Appearances: Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, Amicus Curiae.