Temporal Limitation on Invoking Section 47 during Active Pendency of Execution

A foundational principle governing execution jurisprudence is that questions contemplated under Section 47 of the Code of Civil Procedure must be raised and determined during the active pendency of the execution proceeding. The legislative phrasing of the section presumes that the executing court retains seisin over the matter to adjudicate disputes arising during the ongoing process of execution. Once an execution proceeding has run its course, culminating in the execution of the decree to the satisfaction of the executing court and followed by a formal order closing or disposing of the execution petition, the executing court ceases to have ongoing seisin over the execution. A party cannot subsequently invoke Section 47 to resurrect questions that should have been urged while the execution process was underway. Therefore, any application under Section 47 instituted after the execution case has attained finality and has been disposed of with a finding of full satisfaction is wholly impermissible and outside the temporal scope of the provision. (Ananda Chandra Panda (Dead) Through LRs. Vs The Collector, Keonjhar & Another | 2026 INSC 91)