Explainer: Why lakhs await justice after winning cases

The difficulties of a litigant in India begin when he has obtained a decree — more than 150 years after the Privy Council highlighted the plight of litigants in India in ‘General Manager of the Raj Durbhunga versus Coomar Ramaput Sing (1872)’, the statement holds true even today.

“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.” This is what the Supreme Court recently said, lamenting that lakhs of litigants continue to wait for justice even after winning their cases.

“The statistics which we have received are highly disappointing. The figures of the pendency of the execution petitions across the country are alarming. As on date, 8,82,578 execution petitions are pending across the country,” said the top court, which has been monitoring the disposal of the execution petitions.

WHAT IS EXECUTION PETITION

An execution petition is the last stage of a civil litigation by which a decree holder (winning party) compels the judgment debtor (losing party) to carry out the mandate of the decree/order. It means the process for enforcing or giving effect to the decree/judgment of the court. By filing an execution petition, the decree holder seeks enforcement of decree/order by the process of court to enable himself to realise the fruits of the decree.

In simple terms, it is a legal request filed with a court to enforce a prior decree or order, ensuring that the winning party receives the awarded relief from the losing party.

Interestingly, the word “execution” is not defined in the Code of Civil Procedure (CPC), 1908, but it simply means the process for enforcing the decree passed by a competent court. The execution is considered to be complete when the decree holder realises the actual relief awarded to him by the court in the decree/order. Order 21 of the CPC contains elaborate provisions for execution of decrees/orders.

PROBLEM OF ALARMING PROPORTIONS

According to official figures, India has more than 5.33 crore cases pending in various courts. Subordinate courts have a total of 4,69,02,371 cases (3,58,96,857 criminal and 1,10,05,514 civil) awaiting disposal, while high courts have 63,68,101 cases (44,58,601 civil and 19,09,500 criminal cases) pending. The Supreme Court has 88,952 cases awaiting disposal.

But the huge pendency of execution petitions is a problem of alarming proportions of a different kind, as these are disposed-of cases stuck in the wheels of justice at the stage of implementation/enforcement.

SC VERDICTS ON DELAY IN DISPOSAL

In Shub Karan Bubna @ Shub Karan Prasad Bubna versus Sita Saran Bubna, (2009), the top court recommended that the Law Commission and Parliament should pay attention to provisions that frustrate execution of decrees. The top court had said that the Law Commission and Parliament must give effect to appropriate recommendations to ensure such amendments in the CPC, governing the adjudication of a suit, to ensure that the process of adjudication of a suit be continuous from the stage of initiation to the stage of securing relief after execution proceedings.

“The execution proceedings which are supposed to be the handmaid of justice and sub-serve the cause of justice are, in effect, becoming tools which are being easily misused to obstruct justice,” the SC had said.

In December 2018, when there were 11,80,275 execution petitions pending in the subordinate courts across India, the Supreme Court issued detailed directions to deal with the inordinate delay in the execution of decrees and prevent misuse of procedural loopholes that hindered timely execution of decrees.

A Bench led by the then Chief Justice of India SA Bobde noted that “remedies provided for preventing injustice are actually being misused to cause injustice, by preventing a timely implementation of orders and execution of decrees”.

WHAT CAUSES THE DELAY

Advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain, who is representing one of the parties in the case in which the Supreme Court issued the latest directions, attributed the delay in disposal of execution petitions to the complicated procedure under the CPC and lack of clarity in the decrees passed by courts. “The execution proceedings under the CPC are complicated and the problem is often compounded by the fact that decrees issued by courts have anomalies and errors. Sometimes the suit property is not identifiable in the decrees,” Jain told The Tribune.

RAY OF HOPE

The situation appears to be improving as the pendency of execution petitions has come down from 11,80,275 in 2018 to just over 8.82 lakh as on October 16, 2025. In the last six months, 3,38,685 execution petitions have been decided.

In its latest order on October 16, a Supreme Court Bench led by Justice JB Pardiwala asked high courts to ensure effective follow-up with their district judiciary for speedy disposal of such matters. Giving six months to all the high courts to follow up with their respective district judiciary as regards the disposal of execution petitions, it posted the matter for further hearing on April 10, 2026.

The inordinate delay in the disposal of execution petitions undermines people’s faith in the judicial system and can potentially push a winning litigant towards vigilante justice, as it deprives him from enjoying the fruits of justice.

Pendency of execution petitions in district courts in various states/UTs

Chandigarh                                 494

Himachal Pradesh                     12,562

Punjab                                          15,023

Haryana                                       15,300

Maharashtra & Goa                   3.41 lakh

Tamil Nadu & Puducherry       86,148

Kerala & Lakshadweep             82,997

Andhra Pradesh                         68,137