1. Appeal against conditional withdrawal order of amount deposited under Order XXXIX Rule 10, CPC. (Para 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 10 , 11 )
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2026 Supreme(Online)(Del) 22052
IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
Prathiba M. Singh, Dinesh Bhatt, JJ
Hayagrev Civil Engineering Pvt Ltd – Appellant
Versus
NBCC (India) Limited – Respondent
FAO(OS) (COMM) 272/2026
Advocates:
For the Appellants/Petitioners: Anirudh Wadhwa, Raghav Wadhwa, Anjali Jain, Siddharth Jain
For the Respondents: Gudipati G. Kashyap, Ranvijay Gohain, Nishant Pandit, Deepak
For the Appellants/Petitioners: Anirudh Wadhwa, Raghav Wadhwa, Anjali Jain, Siddharth Jain
For the Respondents: Gudipati G. Kashyap, Ranvijay Gohain, Nishant Pandit, Deepak
An order passed under the inherent powers of the court under Section 151 of the CPC is not an appealable order under Order XLIII Rule 1 of the CPC or Section 13(1A) of the Commercial Courts Act, 2015.
Headnote:(A) Civil Procedure - Appealability - Order under Section 151 CPC - An order passed under the inherent powers of the court is not included in the category of appealable orders under Order XLIII Rule 1 of the CPC. (Para 22, 23)
(B) Commercial Courts Act, 2015 - Section 13(1A) - Scope of Appeal - Appeals are permissible only against orders enumerated in Order XLIII Rule 1 of the CPC; consequently, a discretionary order permitting conditional withdrawal of deposited amounts is not maintainable. (Para 24)
Issues: Whether an appeal is maintainable against a discretionary order passed under Section 151 of the CPC permitting conditional withdrawal of deposited funds.
Legal Category Hierarchy
- practice and procedure
- contract law
Table of Contents
2. Appellant sought unconditional withdrawal; Respondent claimed contractual lien over amount under separate contract clause. (Para 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 )
3. Order under Section 151 is discretionary and not appealable under Order XLIII Rule 1, CPC. (Para 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 )
4. An order under Section 151, CPC, not being listed in Order XLIII Rule 1, CPC, is not appealable. (Para 22 , 23 , 24 )
5. Appeal dismissed as not maintainable. (Para 25 )
6. Is an order passed under Section 151 of the Code of Civil Procedure appealable under Order XLIII Rule 1?
No, an order under Section 151 is not included in the category of appealable orders under Order XLIII Rule 1, CPC. (Para 22 , 23 )
7. Does Section 13(1A) of the Commercial Courts Act, 2015 permit an appeal against orders under Section 151, CPC?
No, Section 13(1A) permits appeal only against orders enumerated in Order XLIII Rule 1, CPC, which does not include an order under Section 151. (Para 24 )
Prathiba M. Singh, J. (Oral)
1. This hearing has been done through hybrid mode.
CM APPL.68301/2026 (for exemption)
2. Allowed, subject to all just exceptions. Application is disposed of.
FAO(OS) (COMM) 272/2026
3. The present appeal has been filed by the Appellant under Order XLIII Rule 1 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (hereinafter, ‘CPC’) read with Section 13(1A) of the Commercial Courts Act, 2015, inter alia, assailing the impugned order dated 20th August, 2026 passed by the ld. Single Judge in I.A. No. 14495/2026 in CS (COMM) No. 331/2024 titled ‘Hayagreve Civil Engineering Private Ltd. v. NBCC India Ltd.’
4. The brief background of the present case is that, a suit being CS (COMM) No. 331/2024 was filed by the Appellant against the Respondent- NBCC(India)Limited seeking various reliefs,including recovery of a sumof of Rs.6,59,13,849/- against the Respondent.
5. The recovery of the aforesaid amount was in respect of certain works, whichwereexecutedbytheAppellantfortheRespondentintheprojectcalled the Construction of Cooling Tower (NDCT) including Raft Foundation, Basin, Columns & Shell etc. all complete Civil Site Works for BHEL/GSECL at 1x800 MW Wanakbori Super Critical TPP Unit-8, District- Kheda (Gujarat).
6. In the said suit, an application under Order XXXIX Rule 10 of CPC wasfiledbytheAppellantseekingdirectionstotheRespondenttodeposit the admitted amount to the tune of Rs. 4,00,17,407/-, before the Court. The said application was disposed of by the ld. Single Judge, vide order dated 26th November, 2025.
7. Videthesaidorder,theld.SingleJudge,afterconsideringparagraph12 of the written statement filed by the Respondent, had directed as under:
“1.Theplaintiffhasfiledtheinstantapplicationseeking directions to the defendant to deposit Rs. 4,00,17,407/-before this Court.
2. In paragraph no. 12 of the written statement, following position has been taken by the defendant.
“12. Thus, the balance payable amount of Rs.4,00,17,407/- to the plaintiff with respect to project “Construction of Cooling Tower (NDCT) including Raft Foundation, Basin, Columns & Shell etc. all complete Civil Site Works for BHEL/GSECL at 1x800 MW Wanakbori Super Critical TPP Unit-8, District-Kheda (Gujarat)”, was transferred from NDCT works, Wanakbori to NDCT works, Yadadri under Clause 26 of the contractenteredintobetweentheplaintiffand the defendant. That Clause 26 of the contract states thus:
“26.0 WITHHOLDING AND LIEN IN RESPECT OF SUMS DUE FROM CONTRACTOR
26.1 Whenever any claim or claims for payment of a sum of money arises out of or under the contract or against the contractor, NBCC shall be entitled to withhold and also have a lien to retain such sum or sums in whole or in part from the security, if any, deposited by the contractor and for the purpose aforesaid, NBCC shall be entitled to withholdthesecuritydeposit,ifany,furnished as the case may be and also have a lien over the same pending finalization or adjudication of any such claim. In the event of the security beinginsufficienttocovertheclaimedamount or amounts or if no security has been taken from the contractor, NBCC shall be entitled to withhold and have a lien to retain to the extent of such claimed amount or amounts referredtoabovefromanysumorsumsfound payable or which may at any time there after become payable to the contractor under the same contract or any other contract pending finalizationof adjudication of any such claim.
26.2 It is an agreed term of the contract that the sum of money or moneys so Withheld or retained under the lien referred to above by the Engineer-in- Charge or NBCC will be kept withheld or retained as such by the Engineer in-Charge or NBCC till the claim arising out of or under the contract is determined by the competent court and that the contractor will have no claim for interest or damages whatsoever on any account in respect of such withholding or retention under the lien referred to above and duly notified as such to the contractor. For the purposeoft
