Supreme Court Holds That Consumer Decrees Cannot Be Executed Against Directors or Promoters Unless Personal Liability Is Adjudicated
Case Name: Ansal Crown Heights Flat Buyers Association (Regd.) v. M/s Ansal Crown Infrabuild Pvt. Ltd. & Ors. (with connected appeals)
Citation: 2026 INSC 51
Date of Judgment/Order: 12 January 2026
Bench: Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Augustine George Masih
Held: The Supreme Court held that an order passed in a consumer complaint against a company cannot be executed against its directors or promoters when the complaint was admitted and adjudicated only against the company, no notice was issued to the directors, no pleadings or evidence were led against them, and no finding of personal liability was returned, as execution must strictly conform to the decree.
Summary: The appeals arose from execution proceedings initiated by flat buyers against the directors and promoters of a real estate company after the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission had allowed consumer complaints directing the company to deliver possession or refund amounts with interest. At the admission stage, the NCDRC had consciously declined to proceed against the directors and required the complaints to be confined to the company alone, an order that attained finality. Although this Court had earlier clarified that an IBC moratorium protects only the corporate debtor and not its directors, it had expressly left open the question of whether the directors were otherwise liable. Examining settled principles of execution, corporate personality, and consumer adjudication, the Supreme Court found that in the absence of pleadings, adjudication, findings, or guarantees fixing personal liability, execution proceedings could not be used to enlarge the scope of the decree or pierce the corporate veil.
Decision: The appeals were dismissed, the order of the NCDRC refusing to proceed with execution against the directors and promoters was upheld, and the Supreme Court clarified that while the consumer decree binds only the company, the flat buyers remain at liberty to pursue any other remedies available in law against the directors or promoters in appropriate proceedings, with no order as to costs and all connected appeals disposed of.