Authority: Supreme Court of India

Order Date: 05-08-2026

Case Overview

  • Petition for Special Leave to Appeal (C) No. 3365/2020 filed by Vipul Kumar Rameshchand Jain (petitioner) against Gujarat State Electricity Corporation Ltd. (respondent No.1) and an unnamed second respondent.
  • The petition challenges the Gujarat High Court judgment dated 09-10-2019 in SPLCA No. 1429/2019, which had set aside the Commercial Court at Vadodara’s order dated 20‑12‑2018.
  • The Trial Court’s order (20‑12‑2018) had allowed C.M.A. No.50/2018 under Order IX Rule 13 of the CPC, thereby setting aside an ex‑parte decree dated 08‑05‑2017 in Commercial Civil Suit No.111/2016 (Old Suit No. Special Civil Suit No.457/2011).
  • The ex‑parte decree had awarded the petitioner a sum of Rs 5,73,89,999 (Rupees Five Crore Seventy‑Three Lacs Eighty‑Nine Thousand Nine Hundred Ninety‑Nine) with interest at 12% p.a. from suit institution to decree and 9% p.a. thereafter, together with costs.
  • The Supreme Court stayed execution of the ex‑parte decree on 20‑02‑2020.
  • On 21‑07‑2026 the Court proposed conditions for setting aside the decree: (1) suit to be concluded within six months, (2) petitioner to file an affidavit of assets with an undertaking not to dispose of them, and (3) petitioner to deposit a reasonable percentage of the suit amount.
  • Respondent No.1 (GSEC) agreed to conditions 1 and 2 but objected to condition 3.
  • Petitioner’s counsel submitted that Rs 22,00,000 had already been deposited as Earnest Money Deposit and Rs 1,50,000 as cost for condonation of delay, totaling Rs 23,50,000, with the former held by the respondent and the latter by the Court.
  • The Court accepted that condition 3 need not be insisted upon.

Final Outcome

  • The impugned Gujarat High Court order is set aside.
  • The Commercial Court at Vadodara’s order dated 20‑12‑2018 is restored.
  • The ex‑parte judgment and decree dated 08‑05‑2017 are set aside, and Commercial Civil Suit No.111/2016 (Special Civil Suit No.457/2011) is restored to the file of the Commercial Court.
  • The Commercial Court at Vadodara shall conclude the suit on or before 31 January 2027; it may fix its own hearing schedule.
  • Parties undertake that no adjournments will be sought except on exceptional grounds and will cooperate for an expeditious conclusion.
  • The petitioner must file an affidavit disclosing all movable and immovable assets, with an undertaking not to dispose of them during the pendency of the suit, before the Trial Court and a copy before this Court.
  • The affidavit and undertaking must be filed within three weeks from the date of this order.
  • Any breach of the undertaking will attract serious consequences.
  • All questions of law arising in the matter are left open.
  • The Special Leave Petition is disposed of in the above terms, and any pending applications, if any, are also disposed of.

Topics: Civil Procedure, Electricity Sector Litigation