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Limitation Period For Executing A Decree Passed By A Foreign Court Will Be The Limitation Prescribed In The Reciprocating Foreign Country
In the case of Bank of Baroda v. Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd., the Supreme Court bench comprising of Justice Deepak Gupta and Justice Aniruddha Bose held that the period of limitation would start running from the date the decree was passed in the foreign court of a reciprocating country. However, if the decree holder first takes aiding steps to execute the decree in the cause country, and the decree is not fully satisfied, then he can file a petition for execution in India within a period of 3 years from the finalisation of the execution proceedings in the cause country.
In the appeal filed by the Petitioner, the Apex Court considered the following questions:
(i) Does Section 44A merely provide for manner of execution of foreign decrees or does it also indicate the period of limitation for filing execution proceedings for the same
(ii) What is the period of limitation for executing a decree passed by a foreign court from a reciprocating country in India
(iii) From which date the period of limitation will run in relation to a foreign decree sought to be executed in India
The Limitation Act does not prescribe any period of limitation for execution of a foreign decree passed in a reciprocating country. The crux of the submission made by Attorney General was that the cause of action to file an execution petition arises only when a petition is filed under Section 44A of the CPC which provides that a decree passed by a court in a reciprocating country should be treated as an Indian decree. However, the submission was rejected by the Court.
In responding to the first question, the Bench held that Section 44A only enables the District Court to execute the decree and further provides that the District Court shall follow the same procedure as it follows while executing an Indian decree, but it does not lay down or indicate the period of limitation for filing such an execution petition.
Answering the other questions, the bench made the following observations:
(i) Article 136 only deals with decrees passed by Indian civil courts,
(ii) Law of limitation is not merely a procedural law
(iii) Written application in terms of Order 21 Rule 11(2) Necessary
(iv) Application for executing a foreign decree covered under Article 137
In conclusion, the Hon'ble Court held that the limitation period for executing a decree passed by a foreign court, that is from the reciprocating country in India will be the limitation prescribed in the reciprocating foreign country.
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