Delhi Court Orders Attachment Of Bikaner House

Patiala House Court

A Delhi court on Thursday has ordered the attachment of Bikaner House, owned by the Nokha Municipal Council in Rajasthan, for failing to pay an arbitral award of ₹50.31 lakh to Enviro Infra Engineers Private Limited.

The decision came after repeated non-compliance with court directions by the municipal council.

District Judge Vidya Prakash issued the order, emphasizing that the 2020 arbitral award in favor of the company had attained finality after the Nagar Palika’s appeal was dismissed earlier this year.

In the September 18 order, the court highlighted the municipal council’s failure to submit an affidavit disclosing its assets despite multiple opportunities.

Judge Prakash stated, “Keeping in view the fact that the Judgment Debtor failed to comply with the direction for furnishing affidavit of their assets despite grant of repeated opportunities, the court, while agreeing with the submissions made on behalf of Decree Holder, finds it a fit case for issuance of warrants of attachment against immovable property of JD namely Bikaner House, New Delhi.”

The ruling was issued in response to an application seeking enforcement of the arbitral award, which was passed on January 21, 2020.

It is an undisputed fact that the Judgement debtor had preferred petition u/s 34 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 bearing OMP(COMM) NO.178/2023 titled “Nagar Palika, Nokha, State Of Rajasthan v. M/S Enviro Infra Engineers Pvt. Ltd.” against the aforesaid arbitral award.

The court further restrained the Nokha Municipal Council from transferring or encumbering the property through sale, gift, or any other means until the matter is resolved.

A representative of the Nokha Nagar Palika has been directed to appear before the court on November 29, the next date of hearing.

This development underscores the court’s commitment to upholding arbitral decisions and ensuring compliance with legal obligations.

(Inputs By Sambhav Sharma)