Karnataka HC Sets Aside Arrest Warrants Against Debtors, Leaves Their Claim Of Decree Payment For Execution Court To Decide

The petitioners, judgment-debtors, challenged two orders of the Executing Court: an order rejecting their application under Order XXI Rule 23(2) read with Section 151 CPC for an enquiry into their objections, and a subsequent order issuing arrest warrants against them.

They claimed to have paid the decretal sum and that the earlier execution petition had been dismissed, but alleged that execution proceedings had been initiated again.

During the writ proceedings, they deposited ₹2,00,000 before the High Court; the execution petition remained pending.

Order XXI Rule 23(2) CPC requires the Executing Court to consider objections filed by a judgment-debtor and pass an appropriate order.

Section 151 CPC was invoked alongside that provision in the judgment-debtors’ application.

The Court treated whether the decretal sum had been paid as a question of fact for determination by the Executing Court.

The High Court considered that the dispute over payment was factual and that the execution petition was still pending.

Because the judgment-debtors had filed objections and deposited ₹2,00,000, the Executing Court should hear all parties and determine the objections before deciding the further steps in execution.

The Court therefore set aside the challenged orders and remitted the matters for that determination.

The arrest-warrant order dated 17 October 2022 and the order dated 7 December 2021 rejecting the application were set aside.

The matters were remitted to the Executing Court to consider the judgment-debtors’ objections after hearing the parties and to pass appropriate orders.

The ₹2,00,000 deposit was directed to be transferred to that court for disbursement to the successful party following its decision.

The parties were directed to appear before the Executing Court on 24 November 2026; no order as to costs was made.