Consent decree terms cannot be altered in execution; default interest cannot be reduced under Section 74.

A consent decree passed on a compromise under Order XXIII Rule 3 CPC is binding unless set aside, and an executing court must enforce it as drawn without travelling beyond its terms. A default interest clause in such a decree does not, by itself, become penal or unreasonable so as to attract Section 74 of the Indian Contract Act and justify reduction. The executing court therefore had no jurisdiction to reduce the stipulated interest, and the attempted reduction of the agreed rate constituted an impermissible alteration of a valid decree.

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Issues: Whether an executing court can vary the terms of a consent decree by reducing the stipulated default interest and invoke Section 74 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872 to treat the interest clause as penal or unreasonable.

Analysis: A consent decree passed on a compromise under Order XXIII Rule 3 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 is binding unless set aside, and an executing court is bound to execute it as it stands. It has no jurisdiction to travel beyond the decree or to modify its terms. A default clause in a compromise decree does not, by itself, become penal so as to permit reduction of the agreed consequence under Section 74 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872. The reduction of the agreed interest from 18% to 14% and then to 9% amounted to an impermissible alteration of a valid decree.

Conclusion: The executing court could not vary the consent decree or reduce the stipulated interest, and the decree had to be executed as originally drawn.

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