Karnataka HC Upholds Refusal To Stay Property-Decree Execution After Defendants’ Appeal, Filed 16 Years 227 Days Late, Was Dismissed

The respondent obtained a decree dated 21 January 2011 declaring him owner in possession of the suit properties and permanently restraining the petitioners from interfering with his possession.

He commenced execution proceedings in E.P. No. 14/2022.

The petitioners later filed R.A. No. 46/2024 challenging the decree and sought, under Order XXI Rule 29 read with Section 151 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (CPC), a stay of the execution proceedings.

On 25 June 2025, the Executing Court rejected their application.

The High Court noted that the appeal had since been dismissed on 30 August 2025 for delay of 16 years and 227 days.

The application was made under Order XXI Rule 29 read with Section 151 of the CPC, which the petitioners invoked to seek a stay of execution.

The Court’s reasoning proceeded on the basis that the petitioners had not established grounds for staying execution and that the decree-holder could pursue execution where no stay of the decree had been brought to the Court’s attention.

The decree had been passed in 2011, and the petitioners had not appealed before the respondent initiated execution in 2022; their appeal was filed only in 2024.

The Executing Court therefore had no basis, on the material presented, to defer execution merely because an appeal was pending.

Further, the appeal was dismissed for delay, and the petitioners did not show that a second appeal had been filed or that any stay of the decree had been granted.

The High Court accordingly found no perversity or illegality in the Executing Court’s refusal to stay execution.

The writ petition was dismissed as devoid of merit.