Attachment of salary or allowances of servant of the Government or railway company or local authority
Full Text
(1) Where the property to be attached is the salary or allowances of a servant of the Government or of a servant of a railway company or local authority or of a servant of a corporation engaged in any trade or industry which is established by a Central, Provincial or State Act, or a Government company as defined in section 617 of the Companies Act, 1956 (1 of 1956) the Court, whether the judgment-debtor or the disbursing officer is or is not within the local limits of the Court's jurisdiction, may order that the amount shall, subject to the provisions of section 60, be withheld from such salary or allowances either in one payment or by monthly instalments as the Court may direct; and upon notice of the order to such officer as the appropriate Government may by notification in the Official Gazette appoint in this behalf,—
(a) where such salary or allowances are to be disbursed within the local limits to which this Code for the time being extends, the officer or other person whose duty it is to disburse the same shall withhold and remit to the Court the amount due under the order, or the monthly instalments, as the case may be;
(b) where such salary or allowances are to be disbursed beyond the said limits, the officer or other person within those limits whose duty it is to instruct the disbursing authority regarding the amount of the salary or allowances to be disbursed shall remit to the Court the amount due under the order, or the monthly instalments, as the case may be, and shall direct the disbursing authority to reduce the aggregate of the amounts from time to time, to be disbursed by the aggregate of the amounts from time to time remitted to the Court.
(2) Where the attachable proportion of such salary or allowances is already being withheld and remitted to a Court in pursuance of a previous and unsatisfied order of attachment, the officer appointed by the appropriate Government in this behalf shall forthwith return the subsequent order to the Court issuing it with a full statement of all the particulars of the existing attachment.
(3) Every order made under this rule, unless it is returned in accordance with the provisions of sub-rule (2) shall, without further notice or other process, bind the appropriate Government or the railway company or local authority or corporation or Government company, as the case may be, while the judgment-debtor is within the local limits to which this Code for the time being extends and while he is beyond those limits, if he is in receipt of any salary or allowances payable out of the Consolidated Fund of India or the Consolidated Fund of the State or the funds of a railway company or local authority or corporation or Government company in India; and the appropriate Government or the railway company or local authority or corporation or Government company, as the case may be, shall be liable for any sum paid in contravention of this rule.
Explanation.—In this rule, “appropriate Government” means,—
(i) As respects any person in the service of the Central Government, or any servant of a railway administration or of a cantonment authority or of the port authority of a major port, or any servant of a corporation engaged in any trade or industry which is established by a Central Act, or any servant of a Government company in which any part of the share capital is held by the Central Government or by more than one State Governments or partly by the Central Government and partly by one or more State Governments, the Central Government;
(ii) As respects any other servant of the Government, or a servant of any other local or other authority, or any servant of a corporation engaged in any trade or industry which is established by a Provincial or State act, or a servant of any other Government company, the State Government.
Plain English Summary
Prescribes the statutory mechanism for attaching salaries and allowances of government, railway, municipal, and PSU employees, mandating automatic deduction by the disbursing officer subject to Section 60 exemptions, and imposing direct liability on the government employer for unauthorized disbursements.
Key Legal Elements
- Extra-territorial Reach: Order binds disbursing officer even if stationed outside court's territorial limits.
- Section 60 Exemption Safeguard: In money decrees, first ₹1,000 + two-thirds of remainder is exempt; only one-third attachable for 24 months maximum.
- Direct Remittance to Court: Disbursing officer remits withheld salary directly into court treasury.
- Prior Attachment Priority (Sub-rule 2): Earlier attachment must be cleared first.
- Government Direct Liability (Sub-rule 3): Disbursing authority personally liable if salary released in contempt of order.
Practical Note
Salary Attachments of Public Servants: 1. Scope & Jurisdiction: The court can issue an order under Rule 48 directly to a Disbursing Officer anywhere in India without transferring the decree to that district court. 2. Ceiling under Section 60(1)(i): For non-maintenance money decrees, the first ₹1,000 plus two-thirds of the remainder of the salary is totally exempt. Only one-third of the balance is attachable, and that too for a cumulative maximum period of 24 months. 3. Landmark Authority: Union of India v. Jyoti Chit Fund & Finance (1976) 3 SCC 607.
हिंदी पाठ
(1) जहां कुर्क की जाने वाली संपत्ति किसी सरकारी सेवक या रेल कंपनी या स्थानीय प्राधिकारी के सेवक अथवा निगम या सरकारी कंपनी के कर्मचारी का वेतन या भत्ते हैं, वहां न्यायालय (चाहे देनदार या संवितरण अधिकारी अधिकारिता में हो या न हो) यह आदेश दे सकेगा कि धारा 60 के उपबंधों के अधीन रहते हुए ऐसी राशि एकमुश्त या मासिक किस्तों में वेतन से रोककर न्यायालय को प्रेषित की जाए।
(2) यदि वेतन का कुर्क योग्य भाग पूर्व आदेश से पहले से ही काटा जा रहा है, तो अधिकारी संपूर्ण विवरण सहित आगामी आदेश को न्यायालय को वापस लौटाएगा।
(3) प्रत्येक ऐसा आदेश सरकार, रेलवे, स्थानीय प्राधिकारी या सार्वजनिक उपक्रम पर पूर्णतः बाध्यकारी होगा; और यदि इस नियम के उल्लंघन में वेतन का भुगतान किया जाता है, तो संबंधित सरकार या प्राधिकारी उस राशि के लिए स्वयं उत्तरदायी होगा।
स्पष्टीकरण— इसमें 'समुचित सरकार' (केंद्रीय सरकार अथवा राज्य सरकार) को परिभाषित किया गया है।