Courts by which Decrees may be Executed (Section 38-46)

Section 38: Court by which decree may be executed.—

A decree may be executed either by the Court which passed it, or by the Court to which it is sent for execution.

Section 39: Transfer of decree.—

(1) The Court which passed a decree may, on the application of the decree-holder, send it for execution to another Court of competent jurisdiction,—

(a) if the person against whom the decree is passed actually and voluntarily resides or carries on business, or personally works for gain, within the local limits of the jurisdiction of such other Court, or

(b) if such person has not property within the local limits of the jurisdiction of the Court which passed the decree sufficient to satisfy such decree and has property within the local limits of the jurisdiction of such other Court, or

(c) if the decree directs the sale or delivery of immovable property situate outside the local limits of the jurisdiction of the Court which passed it, or

(d) if the Court which passed the decree considers for any other reason, which it shall record in writing, that the decree should be executed by such other Court.

(2) The Court which passed a decree may of its own motion send it for execution to any subordinate court of competent jurisdiction.

(3) For the purposes of this section, a Court shall be deemed to be a court of competent jurisdiction if, at the time of making the application for the transfer of decree to it, such Court would have jurisdiction to try the suit in which such decree was passed.

(4) Nothing in this section shall be deemed to authorise the Court which passed a decree to execute such decree against any person or property outside the local limits of its jurisdiction.

Section 40: Transfer of decree to Court in another State.—

Where a decree is sent for execution in another State, it shall be sent to such Court and executed in such manner as may be prescribed by rules in force in that State.

Section 41: Result of execution proceedings to be certified.—

The Court to which a decree is sent for execution shall certify to the Court which passed it the fact of such execution, or where the former Court fails to execute the same the circumstances attending such failure.

Section 42: Powers of Court in executing transferred decree.—

(1) The Court executing a decree sent to it shall have the same powers in executing such decree as if it had been passed by itself. All persons disobeying or obstructing the execution of the decree shall be punishable by such Court in the same manner as if it had passed the decree. And its order in executing such decree shall be subject to the same rules in respect of appeal as if the decree had been passed by itself.

(2) Without prejudice to the generality of the provisions of sub-section (1), the powers of the Court under that sub-section shall include the following powers of the Court which passed the decree, namely:—

(a) power to send the decree for execution to another Court under Section 39;

(b) power to execute the decree against the legal representative of the deceased judgment-debtor under Section 50;

(c) power to order attachment of a decree.

(3) A Court passing an order in exercise of the powers specified in sub-section (2) shall send a copy thereof to the Court which passed the decree.

(4) Nothing in this section shall be deemed to confer on the Court to which a decree is sent for execution any of the following powers, namely:—

(a) power to order execution at the instance of the transferee of the decree;

(b) in the case of a decree passed against a firm, power to grant leave to execute such decree against any person, other than such a person as is referred to in clause (b), or clause (c), of sub-rule (1) of Rule 50 of Order XXI.

Section 43: Execution of decrees passed by Civil Courts in places to which this Code does not extend.—

Any decree passed by any Civil Court established in any part of India to which the provisions of this Code do not extend, or by any Court established or continued by the authority of the Central Government outside India, may, if it cannot be executed within the jurisdiction of the Court by which it was passed, be executed in the manner herein provided within the jurisdiction of any Court in the territories to which this Code extends.

Section 44: Execution of decrees passed by Revenue Courts in places to which this Code does not extend.—

The State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, declare that the decrees of any Revenue Court in any part of India to which the provisions of this Code do not extend, or any class of such decrees, may be executed in the State as if they had been passed by Courts in that State.

Section 44-A: Execution of decrees passed by Courts in reciprocating territory.—

(1) Where a certified copy of a decree of any of the superior courts of any reciprocating territory has been filed in a District Court, the decree may be executed in India as if it had been passed by the District Court.

(2) Together with the certified copy of the decree shall be filed a certificate from such superior court stating the extent, if any, to which the decree has been satisfied or adjusted and such certificate shall, for the purposes of proceedings under this section, be conclusive proof of the extent of such satisfaction or adjustment.

(3) The provisions of Section 47 shall as from the filing of the certified copy of the decree apply to the proceedings of a District Court executing a decree under this section, and the District Court shall refuse execution of any such decree, if it is shown to the satisfaction of the court that the decree falls within any of the exceptions specified in clauses (a) to (f) of Section 13.

Explanation 1.—“Reciprocating territory” means any country or territory outside India which the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, declare to be a reciprocating territory for the purposes of this section; and “superior courts”, with reference to any such territory, means such Courts as may be specified in the said notification.

Explanation 2.—“Decree” with reference to a superior court means any decree or Judgment of such Court under which a sum of money is payable, not being a sum payable in respect of taxes or other charges of a like nature or in respect of a fine or other penalty, but shall in no case include an arbitration award, even if such an award is enforceable as a decree or Judgment.

Section 45: Execution of decrees outside India.—

So much of the foregoing sections of this Part as empowers a Court to send a decree for execution to another Court shall be construed as empowering a Court in any State to send a decree for execution to any Court established by the authority of the Central Government outside India to which the State Government has by notification in the Official Gazette declared this section to apply.

Section 46: Precepts.—

(1) Upon the application of the decree-holder the Court which passed the decree may, whenever it thinks fit, issue a precept to any other Court which would be competent to execute such decree to attach any property belonging to the judgment-debtor and specified in the precept.

(2) The Court to which a precept is sent shall proceed to attach the property in the manner prescribed in regard to the attachment of property in execution of a decree:

Provided that no attachment under a precept shall continue for more than two months unless the period of attachment is extended by an order of the Court which passed the decree or unless before the determination of such attachment the decree has been transferred to the Court by which the attachment has been made and the decree-holder has applied for an order for the sale of such property.

IMPORTANT CASE LAWS

1. Which Court can execute a decree

Ramkumar v. Hazarimal, AIR 1961 Raj 157:

……Sec. 38 of the Code of Civil Procedure provides that a decree may be executed either by the Court which passed it, or by the Court to which it is sent for execution. In other words, both categories of Courts, therefore, have jurisdiction to execute the decree: namely, the Court which passed the decree and the Court to which the decree is sent for execution.…..

2. Nature and Scope of Section 39 and its impact on Order XXI of the Code

Salem Advocate Bar Assn. (II) v. Union of India, (2005) 6 SCC 344:

22. Section 39(1) of the Code provides that the court which passed a decree may, on the application of the decree-holder send it for execution to another court of competent jurisdiction. By Act 22 of 2002, Section 39(4) has been inserted providing that nothing in the section shall be deemed to authorise the court which passed a decree to execute such decree against any person or property outside the local limits of its jurisdiction. The question is whether this newly added provision prohibits the executing court from executing a decree against a person or property outside its jurisdiction and whether this provision overrides Order 21 Rule 3 and Order 21 Rule 48 or whether these provisions continue to be an exception to Section 39(4) as was the legal position before the amendment.

24. Section 39 does not authorise the court to execute the decree outside its jurisdiction but it does not dilute the other provisions giving such power on compliance with the conditions stipulated in those provisions. Thus, the provisions, such as, Order 21 Rule 3 or Order 21 Rule 48 which provide differently, would not be affected by Section 39(4) of the Code.

3. Impact of Section 41 of the Code

Ramkumar v. Hazarimal, AIR 1961 Raj 157:

……where a decree is transferred to another Court for execution the transferee Court gets jurisdiction to execute the decree. It retains this jurisdiction until it sends a certificate under sec. 41 of the Civil Procedure Code; nevertheless the transferor Court is not deprived of its jurisdiction to execute the decree. The latter Court retains jurisdiction to execute the decree, except to the extent that the transferee Court has also acquired jurisdiction to execute it and this the transferee Court can do in certain circumstances even in the absence of the certificate required under sec. 41. What, therefore, holds true of the Court which passed the decree is equally true of the Court to which the decree is transferred for execution.

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