Gujarat HC Quashes Survey Order Allowing Judgment Debtor To Measure Land Beyond 1984 Decree’s 3,000-Sq-Yard Scope

The petitioners challenged the City Civil Court’s order dated 16 January 2026 allowing Exhibit 94, an application by the judgment debtor for measurement of land in Final Plot No. 64 and appointment of a Court Commissioner.

The decree under execution, passed in 1984, directed delivery of vacant and peaceful possession of 3,000 square yards situated north of and adjoining a 6,175-square-yard sub-plot.

An earlier application, Exhibit 31, seeking directions concerning the same execution and a commission to inspect the land had been rejected on 19 September 2025.

The decree-holder argued that the order on Exhibit 94 authorised an inquiry beyond the decree and effectively revived the earlier rejected application.

The Court applied the principle that an Executing Court must execute the decree as passed and cannot go beyond or fundamentally alter its terms.

The judgment cites no statute or precedent; its reasoning rests on comparing the decree’s description of the land with the relief sought and granted in the execution proceedings.

The decree was limited to 3,000 square yards north of and adjoining the 6,175-square-yard sub-plot.

By contrast, Exhibit 94 sought measurement of several portions of land, including areas beyond the property specified in the decree, and the order allowed that broader measurement.

The Court considered that relief substantially similar to the commission sought in Exhibit 31, which had already been rejected, and held that granting it would take the execution beyond the decree and reopen the earlier application.

It directed that any applications filed or pending before the Executing Court be decided strictly on their merits.