Silverline Forum Pvt Ltd v Rajiv Trust

Facts

Silverline Forum, having acquired ownership of a flat in Harrington Mansion, Calcutta by a 1995 conveyance, obtained an ex-parte ejectment decree against its tenant Rajiv Trust on grounds of unauthorised subletting and damage to the property. During execution, a sub-tenant (Captain Shipping Estate Pvt Ltd), who was not a party to the decree, resisted delivery of possession, contending the decree was a nullity obtained collusively. The question arose how such third-party obstruction in execution is to be dealt with under Order 21 CPC.

Issues

• Whether a sub-tenant or stranger who is not a party to a decree for possession can resist execution and, if so, how such resistance is to be dealt with under Order 21 CPC.
• Whether the executing court is bound to adjudicate the obstruction under Order 21 Rule 97 or whether the decree-holder must file a separate suit.
• Whether the obstructing sub-tenant was bound by the ejectment decree against its landlord.

Arguments

The appellant decree-holder contended that the sub-tenant, having admitted his status, was bound by the ejectment decree absent any statutory protection and lacked competence to challenge it. The sub-tenant contended that the decree was obtained collusively without making him a party and that his remedy lay in an inquiry under Order 21 Rule 97 or Section 151 CPC.

Held

The Supreme Court allowed the appeal and set aside the order under challenge. It held that Order 21 Rules 97 to 106 deal with every sort of resistance or obstruction offered by any person, so that when a decree-holder complains of resistance it is incumbent on the executing court to adjudicate upon it under Rule 97—the decree-holder need not be relegated to a separate suit. The adjudication under Rule 101 extends to all questions, including questions of right, title or interest, that legally arise between the parties and are relevant for consideration, but the executing court is not bound to determine every question an obstructor raises. On the facts, the sub-tenant was bound by the ejectment decree against his landlord because he had not given the landlord the notice required under the West Bengal Premises Tenancy Act, 1956, and therefore could not claim statutory protection.

Ratio decidendi

When execution of a decree for possession is resisted or obstructed by any person, including a stranger to the decree, the executing court is obliged under Order 21 Rule 97 to adjudicate the resistance itself rather than drive the decree-holder to a separate suit; under Rule 101 it determines all questions, including those of right, title and interest, that legally arise between the parties and are relevant, but only such questions.

Significance

A leading authority on the scope of Order 21 Rule 97 read with Rules 99, 101 and 102, clarifying that all disputes about possession arising in execution—whether raised by a party or a stranger—are to be resolved by the executing court, avoiding multiplicity of proceedings. It reflects the post-1976 amendment scheme of Order 21 and has been consistently followed in later decisions on resistance to delivery of possession, such as Brahmdeo Chaudhary v. Rishikesh Prasad Jaiswal and Shreenath v. Rajesh.

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