State of Kerala vs K.V. Gopinathan Nair

K.T. Sankaran, J.—The Respondent is the decree holder in L.A.R. No. 24 of 1997 on the file of the Court of the Subordinate Judge of Pala. He filed E.P. No. 76 of 2000 to execute the decree. Both the parties filed statement as to the balance amount due to the decree holder. The executing court accepted the statement filed by the decree holder. Accordingly, the judgment debtor was directed to deposit the balance decree amount of Rs. 50,930/- within two months. That order is under challenge in this Revision filed by the judgment debtor.

The learned Government Pleader appearing for the revision Petitioner submitted that as per the decree in the Land Acquisition Reference, interest on solatium was specifically denied and therefore, the executing court was not justified in granting an order for realization of interest on solatium. The learned Government Pleader submitted that the amount now directed to be recovered from the judgment debtor includes interest on solatium as well. This statement is not disputed by the learned Counsel appearing for the Respondent. There is also no dispute that interest on solatium was specifically denied as per the decree. The learned Government Pleader also submitted that there are other mistakes in the calculation.

The learned Counsel appearing for the decree holder submitted that if interest on solatium is to be deducted, the parties may be afforded an opportunity to file a fresh calculation statement claiming interest up-to-date on the balance amount.

Going by the decisions of the Supreme Court in Gurpreet Singh Vs. Union of India (UOI), and Collector, Land Acquisition and Anr. v. Jaswant Singh and Ors. (2008) 12 SCC 745, the decree holder would not be entitled to claim interest on solatium since it was specifically disallowed as per the decree. Therefore, the executing court was not justified in directing recovery of amounts including interest on solatium.

For the aforesaid reasons, the order passed by the executing court is set aside. The Respondent/decree holder is not entitled to interest on solatium. Both parties would be entitled to file calculation statement. The decree holder would be entitled to interest on the balance amount till the date of realization. Parties shall appear before the executing court on 27.6.2011.

The Civil Revision Petition is allowed as above.