Default clause in award enforced in execution, with property conveyance and monetary adjustment worked out on fresh valuation.

An executing court must construe an award as a whole and give effect to its default mechanism without varying its terms. The earlier execution order bound the parties only on the specific issue then decided and did not conclusively settle the full mode of execution. On a proper reading of the award, default in payment entitled the decree-holders to conveyance of the property and allied reliefs, with valuation and monetary adjustments to be worked out in execution on a fresh contemporaneous basis. The plea that mere deposit satisfied the award was rejected as determinative, and execution proceeded by enforcing the default clause.

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Issues: Whether the award could be executed as a mere money award on deposit of the decretal amount, or whether clause (b) of the award created a default entitlement to conveyance of the property together with allied rights, to be worked out in execution; and whether the earlier execution order operated as res judicata on the mode of execution.

Analysis: The earlier order had attained finality and bound the parties on the limited question already decided, but it did not conclusively determine the exact mode of execution contemplated by the award. The award was construed as a money award with an in-built default mechanism: the judgment-debtor was given time to pay, and on default the decree-holders became entitled to the property and related benefits under clause (b). The Court held that execution had to give effect to the award as a whole, without rewriting it or treating the property valuation as sacrosanct in perpetuity. The executing court could interpret the award, but could not vary its terms or disregard the default clause. The valuation of the property was directed to be reassessed contemporaneously for adjustment of the mutual monetary obligations.

Conclusion: The decree-holders were held entitled to conveyance of the Shakespeare Sarani property and the ancillary reliefs under clause (b), with valuation to be worked out in execution and the decretal balance adjusted accordingly. The judgment-debtor's plea that deposit alone satisfied the award was not accepted as determinative of the execution.

Final Conclusion: The execution applications were disposed of by enforcing the award according to its default mechanism, with conveyance of the property to be completed and the monetary adjustments worked out on the basis of a fresh valuation.

Ratio Decidendi: An executing court must construe and give effect to an award or decree as a whole, including its default or reciprocal mechanism, but cannot alter its terms or treat an earlier final order as deciding more than what it actually determined.

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