“Highly disappointing”: Supreme Court pulls up High Courts over pendency of 8.8 lakh execution petitions

The Supreme Court recently expressed disappointment after being informed that more than 8.8 lakh execution petitions remain pending across the country despite its earlier directions to ensure their expeditious disposal [Periyammal & Ors. vs. V Rajamani & Anr.]. .A Bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and Pankaj Mithal noted that although 3.38 lakh execution petitions were disposed of since March this year, the backlog continues to be “alarming.” It warned that unless decree-holders are able to realise the outcome of their cases without years of further delay, justice itself would be reduced to a farce.“After the decree is passed, if it is going to take years and years to execute the decree, then it makes no sense and would be nothing short of travesty of justice,” the Court said in an order passed on October 16..Earlier this year, while deciding a 4-decade-old property dispute, the Supreme Court had directed all High Courts to collect data from their district judiciary and ensure that pending execution petitions are decided within six months. It had also said that presiding officers who failed to comply would be answerable on the administrative side of their respective High Courts.The consolidated reports now placed before the Court revealed large pendency across several jurisdictions. Maharashtra emerged the leader of the pack with more than 3.4 lakh pending cases, followed by Tamil Nadu with over 86,000, and Kerala with nearly 83,000. Uttar Pradesh reported over 27,000 pending matters while Andhra Pradesh accounted for more than 68,000. The nationwide figure stood at 8,82,578 execution petitions awaiting disposal.The Court said the numbers betrayed the spirit of its earlier order.“The statistics which we have received are highly disappointing. The figures of the pendency of the execution petitions across the country are alarming,” the Bench said.It also noted that Karnataka High Court had failed to furnish any data despite the earlier order. The Bench directed its Registrar General to file an explanation within two weeks, observing that such non-compliance could not be ignored.“The Registrar General of the High Court of Karnataka owes an explanation why he has failed to provide us with the necessary information,” the Bench directed..The Court extended the time for compliance by another six months and asked all High Courts to not only monitor their district judiciary but also evolve procedures for effective enforcement of decrees. It reiterated that if a decree cannot be implemented for years, it would amount to travesty of justice..The Bench has now fixed the case for April 10, 2026 to further monitor the matter, by which date all High Courts must submit updated data on pending and disposed execution petitions. .Supreme Court orders High Courts to ensure lower courts decide execution petitions within 6 months or......The petitioners were represented by advocates Mrinal Kanwar, Dinesh Kumar Chouhan and Vaibhav Rajsingh Rathore.The respondents were represented by advocates Rahul Jain, Kunal Chatterji, Maitrayee Banerjee, Rohit Bansal, Varij Nayan Mishra, Vishnu Shankar Jain, Gopal Jha, Shireesha Sharma, Sawan Datta, Nand Kishore Sharma, Ankit Agrawal, Arjun Garg, Sagun Srivastava, Saaransh Shukla, Muskan Bensla, Sanjai Kumar Pathak, Shashi Pathak, Arvind Kumar Tripathi and Smriti Singh..[Read Order].Follow Bar and Bench channel on WhatsAppDownload the Bar and Bench Mobile app for instant access to the latest legal news.