This issue of LexCognito, which in Latin means 'awareness about law', seeks to provide you an insight into significant legal and regulatory developments that have taken place very recently in India.
Date: 21 January 2020
LexCognito - UAE Court Orders can now be enforced in India
According to Section 44A of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, the decrees of Superior Courts passed in a foreign country can be executed in India only if such country has been declared to be reciprocating territory by the Central Government. The countries like United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Singapore, New Zealand, etc. are already in the list of reciprocating territories for this purpose.
The Central Government, vide its notification dated 17 January 2020, has now declared the United Arab Emirates / UAE as the reciprocating territory for the purpose of enforcing decrees passed by the UAE courts in India. For this purpose, the following courts in UAE have been declared as Superior Courts:
(A) Federal Court
Federal Supreme Court
Federal, First Instance and Appeals Courts in the Emirates of Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain and Fujeirah
(B) Local Courts
Abu Dhabi Judicial Department
Dubai Courts
Ras Al Khaimah Judicial Department
Courts of Abu Dhabi Global Markets
Courts of Dubai International Financial Center
Section 44A is an independent provision which enables a person who has obtained a foreign decree to execute it in India. It is based on the fiction to treat the judgement and decrees passed by the Superior Courts outside India as equivalent to those of District Courts for the purpose of execution in India. A judgment from a court of a reciprocating territory can be directly enforced in India by filing an execution application. While filing the execution application, the original certified copy of the decree along with a certificate from the Superior Court stating the extent to which the decree has been satisfied or adjusted has to be annexed to the application.
This benefit is, however, extends only to civil decrees. It means that the decree executable under this Section has to be a decree under which a sum of money is payable, not being a sum payable in respect of taxes or other charges of a like nature or in respect of a fine or other penalty and it does not include an arbitration award, even if such an award is enforceable as a decree or judgment. In a sense such a decree should be a pure and simple money decree by a Civil Court. Apart from this, the decree of the Superior Court must be conclusive as to any matter adjudicated by it and should pass the tests for conclusiveness enshrined under Section 13, failing which it cannot be enforced in India.
Chambers of Rajan & Indraneel
T: +91 11 41000224, 41030225| Fax:+91 11 29239074
E-mail:rajan.gupta@chrilegal.com
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N 103 Greater Kailash - I, New Delhi - 110048, India.
About us
Chambers of Rajan & Indraneel is a premier full service law firm headquartered at New Delhi, India. The Firm represents amalgamation of vast experiences and practices of two eminent lawyers. Indranil Ghosh is highly reputed as a disputes lawyer. He was a senior partner and head of litigation practice in one of the oldest Indian law firm Fox Mandal for several decades before setting up his own practice. Rajan D Gupta is a rank holder Chartered Accountant turned Corporate Lawyer. He is also a licensed Insolvency Resolution Professional. He has been associated with internationally renowned big law firms in past and has held senior level positions in firms like PwC, Fox Mandal, Khaitan & Co. and SRGR Law, etc. before starting the Firm.
We have a team of experienced Lawyers, Chartered Accountants, Company Secretaries and Insolvency Resolution Professionals with access to network of high quality experienced lawyers in all major commercial cities of India.
The Firm offers a wide range of expert legal services in the areas of corporate and commercial laws and specializes in representing major foreign and domestic corporations with diverse business interests in India. The Firm is professionally equipped to handle large sized and complex corporate transactions like Mergers & Acquisitions, Corporate Restructuring, Joint Ventures, Inbound & Outbound Investments, Private Equity and Venture Capital Investment Transactions, Real Estate Transactions, Infrastructure Projects, Project Finance, Power Projects, Non-Conventional Energy Projects, Highways & Road Projects and Corporate Taxation as well as GST, etc. The Firm also offers proven capabilities in litigation and dispute resolution practice areas, especially in handling international and domestic arbitrations as well as litigation in Supreme Court, various High Courts of India and various judicial and quasi-judicial tribunals/forums including at National Client Law Tribunal, Appellate Tribunals, Tax Tribunals, Competition Commission, Electricity Tribunal, Telecom Disputes Tribunal, Designated Authorities and other adjudicatory bodies.
We have set up a Japan Business Desk (JBD) in order to serve our Japanese clients in a better way. The endeavour of the JBD is to act as a bridge between our professionals and clients from Japan so as to ensure that there are no barriers as to linguistic and cultural differences. This will indeed facilitate Japanese corporates doing business in India.
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