Dear kmgi-ga;
Thank you for allowing me to answer your interesting question. It is
difficult to say what the Central Government and Indian courts might
decide with regard to your US judgment. What is clear is that India
only recognized legal decrees from entities that it deems to be
?reciprocating territories? and the United States is not one of them.
Under section 44-A of the Code of Civil Procedure the court must first
recognize the decree as valid. Clause (2) of Section 44-A mandates
that a certificate must be issued by the superior court of the
reciprocating territory which is then filed in India stating the
extent to which the decree should be satisfied. Even then there are
some issues than can prevent execution of the judgment since India
reserves the right to execute the judgment or to decline to do so. One
of the more important factors is that the Indian court must agree that
the foreign judgment is based on a correct view of international law.
In other words, the US judgment must be reviewed for consideration to
see whether or not it is consistent with Indian law as well. The fact
that the judgement is based on US law is not enough on it's own to
give your judgement automatic merit.
?The District Court before which the decree is sought to be executed
is empowered to refuse execution of any such decree if any of the
following are established:
a) Where the foreign judgment has not been passed by a court of
Competent jurisdiction. As per Section 14 of the Code of Civil
Procedure, the Courts (in India) shall presume, upon the production of
any document purporting to be a certified copy of a foreign judgment,
that such judgment was pronounced by a Court of competent
jurisdiction, unless the contrary appears on record. However, such
presumption may be displaced by proving want of jurisdiction. The
competence of the foreign Court has to be determined in accordance
with the principles of International Law and not merely in accordance
with the law of the country in which the foreign Court is situated.
b) Where the foreign judgment has not been given on the merits of the
case. Thus, a judgment given in a case in which the defendant put in
no appearance, no evidence is called or considered, and in which the
judgment is given by default by way of summary procedure is not a
judgment on the merits of the case.
c) Where the foreign judgment is based on an incorrect view of international law.
d) Where the proceedings are opposed to the principles of natural
justice. For example, a judgment obtained without notice of the suit
to the defendant or without giving him a reasonable opportunity of
presenting his case is contrary to natural justice.
e) Where the judgment is obtained by fraud. The fraud invalidating a
foreign judgment may be either fraud on the part of the party in whose
favour the judgment is given or fraud on the part of the Court
pronouncing the judgment.
f) Where the foreign judgment sustains a claim founded on a breach of
any Indian law.?
EXECUTION OF FOREIGN DECREES IN INDIA
http://www.thebharat.com/legal/companylaw/foreign.html
In short, the bottom line is that the United States is not held to be
a reciprocating territory of India therefore your attempt to have the
US civil judgment executed in India is probably futile. Since we
cannot offer legal advice in this forum beyond that which is published
for public consumption I highly recommend you contact an attorney for
more technical information on the finer aspects of this international
law.
I hope you find that my answer exceeds your expectations. If you have
any questions about my research please post a clarification request
prior to rating the answer. Otherwise I welcome your rating and your
final comments and I look forward to working with you again in the
near future. Thank you for bringing your question to us.
Best regards;
Tutuzdad-ga ? Google Answers Researcher
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