Commercial Court jurisdiction over execution of foreign commercial decrees under Section 44A remains intact at the enforcement stage.

A Commercial Court retains jurisdiction over execution proceedings arising from a foreign decree when the decree itself originates from a commercial dispute. A decree from a reciprocating territory presented under Section 44A of the Code of Civil Procedure is executed as if it were a district court decree, and execution does not fall outside the commercial dispute framework merely because the matter has reached the enforcement stage. The Gujarat HC relied on Sections 6, 16 and 2(1)(c) of the Commercial Courts Act, 2015 and Sections 13, 38, 44A and 47 of the CPC, while treating the earlier Division Bench ruling on the same jurisdictional objection as governing authority.

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Issues: Whether the Commercial Court had jurisdiction to entertain and decide the execution application arising from a foreign decree passed by a commercial court of a reciprocating territory.

Analysis: The challenge was examined in the light of Sections 6, 16 and 2(1)(c) of the Commercial Courts Act, 2015 and Sections 13, 38, 44A and 47 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908. The Court held that execution does not stand outside the commercial dispute framework when the decree sought to be executed itself arises from a commercial dispute. A foreign decree from a reciprocating territory, when presented under Section 44A, is to be executed as if it were a decree of the district court, and the jurisdiction of the Commercial Court is not lost merely because the matter has reached the execution stage. The earlier Division Bench decision rejecting the same jurisdictional objection was treated as governing the issue, and the repeated challenge was viewed as without merit.

Conclusion: The Commercial Court had jurisdiction to entertain and decide the execution proceedings, and the objection to its jurisdiction was rejected.

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