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Messer Griesheim GmbH (now Air Liquide Deutschland GmbH) vs Goyal MG Gases Pvt. Ltd.

Civil Appeal · 2022 INSC 113Decided 28 Jan 2022
Civil Appeal No. 521 of 2022
Ajay Rastogi · Abhay S. Oka

Background

The appellant obtained a money decree of about US $5.8 million from the English High Court (Queen's Bench Division, Commercial Court) against the respondent in February 2006, after an earlier default decree was set aside and the matter was heard on merits; the respondent never appealed, so the decree became final. Since the United Kingdom is a notified "reciprocating territory" under Section 44A of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, the appellant sought to execute this foreign decree in India by filing an execution petition directly before the Delhi High Court in 2006, as the decretal amount then exceeded the High Court's pecuniary threshold (Rs. 20 lakh) for its ordinary original civil jurisdiction. Although a Single Judge of the Delhi High Court decided the execution petition on merits in 2013, the Division Bench in 2014 held that the High Court lacked jurisdiction altogether and relegated the appellant to file afresh before the District Court, prompting this appeal, with the decree by then having gone unexecuted for roughly 16 years.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held that Section 44A's reference to "District Court" must be read together with the Delhi High Court Act, 1966 and the Code's definition of "District," which together mean that once a suit's pecuniary value crosses the threshold notified for the High Court's ordinary original civil jurisdiction, that jurisdiction shifts exclusively to the High Court, even for executing a foreign money decree, and does not remain with the District Court merely because Section 44A uses that term. The Division Bench had erred by focusing only on the literal words "District Court" in Section 44A without considering these other provisions. The Court therefore set aside the Division Bench's judgment, restored the matter to the Delhi High Court's Division Bench for decision on merits, and directed it to be decided within four months given how long the decree had remained unexecuted.

Lesson Learnt

A foreign money decree from a "reciprocating territory" can be executed in India, and the correct forum for execution follows the same pecuniary-jurisdiction rules as an ordinary civil suit. Where a High Court's own value threshold is crossed, execution must proceed before that High Court, not a subordinate district court, even though Section 44A CPC uses the words "District Court."

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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