Executing court discretion in court auction sales includes fixing and reducing the upset price to ensure fairness.

Order XXI Rule 66 CPC, as amended, requires the sale proclamation to include the estimates furnished by the decree-holder and the judgment-debtor, but it does not bar the executing court from making its own estimate where circumstances justify it. The distinction between the property's value and the upset price remains material, and the proviso is confined to removing any obligation to record the court's own estimate, not to prohibiting it. The executing court therefore retains discretion to fix an upset price and, where necessary, reduce it to ensure a fair court auction and protect the interests of both parties.

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Issues: Whether an executing court has power to fix and reduce the upset price for sale of property in court auction after the amendment to Order XXI Rule 66 of the Code of Civil Procedure.

Analysis: The amended scheme of Order XXI Rule 66 required the sale proclamation to include the estimates given by the decree-holder and the judgment-debtor, but it did not take away the court's power to make its own estimate where the circumstances justified it. The distinction between the property's value and the upset price was recognised, and the proviso was construed as removing any obligation to enter the court's own estimate, not as imposing a prohibition on doing so. The power to fix an upset price, and when necessary to reduce it, was treated as part of the court's continuing discretion to conduct the sale fairly and to protect both parties' interests.

Conclusion: The executing court has power to fix the upset price and also to reduce it when necessary. The revision petition was therefore liable to be dismissed.

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