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Syed Farhan Ali vs. M/S ABB India Limited

Civil Miscellaneous (Main) Petition · 2026:DHC:8008Decided 18 Sept 2026New Delhi Bench
CM(M) 1689/2026CNR: DLHC010348592026
Justice Ajay Digpaul

Background

The petitioner, the Authorized Representative of a company that had lost an arbitration award of about Rs. 92 lakh to ABB India Limited, filed asset-disclosure affidavits on the company's behalf in execution proceedings. These affidavits omitted an ICICI Bank account that bank records later showed remained active, with a substantial balance and withdrawals as recent as July 2025. The executing court, treating this as concealment, issued arrest warrants against the petitioner personally under Order XXI Rule 41(3) CPC for failing to comply with disclosure directions.

Decision Breakdown

The High Court clarified that the petitioner was not being made liable for the company's debt itself (there was no piercing of the corporate veil), but was being held personally accountable for his own incomplete and misleading disclosure as the officer who signed the affidavits on the company's behalf. Since the undisclosed bank account was demonstrably active and used for withdrawals shortly before it was finally closed, the Court held the executing court's decision to issue arrest warrants was a valid and reasonable exercise of its discretion, not one warranting interference in supervisory jurisdiction. The petition was dismissed.

Lesson Learnt

A company official who signs an asset-disclosure affidavit on the company's behalf in execution proceedings can personally face arrest for civil contempt if that affidavit conceals material facts. The company's separate legal identity does not shield the individual who actually made the incomplete disclosure.

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