Foreign order not always enforceable

The Bombay High Court has dismissed the petition of Marine Geotechnics LLC of Houston, US, against the Mumbai-based Coastal Marine Construction & Engineering Ltd. stating that an ex-parte summary judgement obtained in a foreign country against an Indian company could not be termed a ‘debt’ due & payable by it in a winding up petition under the Companies Act. The Indian company represented before the Houston court when the US firm obtained a decree against it. It was not made order of the court in India. In such circumstances, it could not be said that the debt became payable, the high court said.