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Friday, 13 November 2026 Judgments, law jobs and study notes, written by a practising advocate
Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 · Part II: Execution

Section 52 CPC: Enforcement of decree against legal representative

Bare Act text

52. Enforcement of decree against legal representative.—(1) Where a decree is passed against a party as the legal representative of a deceased person, and the decree is for the payment of money out of the property of the deceased, it may be executed by the attachment and sale of any such property.

(2) Where no such property remains in the possession of the judgment-debtor and he fails to satisfy the Court that he has duly applied such property of the deceased as is proved to have come into his possession, the decree may be executed against the judgment-debtor to the extent of the property in respect of which he has failed so to satisfy the Court in the same manner as if the decree had been against him personally.

Text of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (Act No. 5 of 1908), as amended, including the changes for commercial disputes made by the Commercial Courts Act, 2015. Source: India Code, Government of India.

In simple words

Where a decree is passed against a party as the legal representative of a deceased person and is for payment of money out of the deceased's property, it may be executed by attachment and sale of that property. If no such property remains with the judgment-debtor and he fails to satisfy the Court that he has duly applied what came into his possession, the decree may be executed against him personally to the extent of that unaccounted property.

Part II: Execution

  1. 36 Application to orders
  2. 37 Definition of Court which passed a decree
  3. 38 Court by which decree may be executed
  4. 39 Transfer of decree
  5. 40 Transfer of decree to Court in another State
  6. 41 Result of execution proceedings to be certified
  7. 42 Powers of Court in executing transferred decree
  8. 43 Execution of decrees passed by Civil Courts in places to which this Code does not extend
  9. 44 Execution of decrees passed by Revenue Courts in places to which this Code does not extend
  10. 44A Execution of decrees passed by Courts in reciprocating territory
  11. 45 Execution of decrees outside India
  12. 46 Precepts
  13. 47 Questions to be determined by the Court executing decree
  14. 48 Execution barred in certain cases (Repealed)
  15. 49 Transferee
  16. 50 Legal representative
  17. 51 Powers of Court to enforce execution
  18. 52 Enforcement of decree against legal representative
  19. 53 Liability of ancestral property
  20. 54 Partition of estate or separation of share
  21. 55 Arrest and detention
  22. 56 Prohibition of arrest or detention of women in execution of decree for money
  23. 57 Subsistence-allowance
  24. 58 Detention and release
  25. 59 Release on ground of illness
  26. 60 Property liable to attachment and sale in execution of decree
  27. 61 Partial exemption of agricultural produce
  28. 62 Seizure of property in dwelling-house
  29. 63 Property attached in execution of decrees of several Courts
  30. 64 Private alienation of property after attachment to be void
  31. 65 Purchaser’s title
  32. 66 Suit against purchaser not maintainable on ground of purchase being on behalf of plaintiff (Repealed)
  33. 67 Power for State Government to make rules as to sales of land in execution of decrees for payment of money
  34. 68 Power to prescribe rules for transferring to collector execution of certain decrees (Repealed)
  35. 69 Provisions of Third Schedule to apply (Repealed)
  36. 70 Rules of Procedure (Repealed)
  37. 71 Collector deemed to be acting judicially (Repealed)
  38. 72 Where Court may authorize Collector to stay Public Sale of Land (Repealed)
  39. 73 Proceeds of execution-sale to be rateably distributed among decree-holders
  40. 74 Resistance to execution
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