Updated: Saturday May 12, 2012/AsSabt
Jamada El Thaniah 21, 1433/Sanivara
Vaisakha 22, 1934, at 08:54:00 PM
The
(W.P.
Ordinance XV of 1960)
C O N T E N T S
Sections
1. Short
title and extent.
2. Definitions.
3. Powers
of the Court to limit interest recoverable in certain cases.
4. Deposit
in Court.
5. Immunity
from arrest.
6. Exemption
from the provisions of Order XXI, Rule 2(3) of the Civil Procedure Code.
7. Exemption
of houses etc., from attachment or sale.
8. Exemption
of milch animals, etc., from attachment or sale.
9. Agreement
for waiving exemption void.
10. Powers
of Court to order payment of amount due on mortgage by instalments.
11. Powers
of Court to direct payment of amount decreed by instalment.
12. Interest
after the commencement of this Ordinance.
13. Power
to make rules.
14. Repeal.
SCHEDULE
[1][1]The [2][2][
(W.P. Ordinance XV of 1960)
[
An
Ordinance to amend and consolidate the law relating to the relief of
indebtedness in the province of [3][3][the
Preamble.— WHEREAS it is expedient to amend and consolidate
the law relating to the relief of indebtedness in the province of [4][4][the
Now,
THEREFORE, in pursuance of the Presidential Proclamation of the seventh day of
October, 1958, and having received the previous instructions of the President,
the Governor of West Pakistan is pleased, in exercise of all powers enabling
him in that behalf, to make and promulgate the following Ordinance:-
1. Short title and extent.— (1) This Ordinance may be called the [5][5][
[6][6][(2) It
extends to the whole of the province of [7][7][the
2. Definitions.— In this Ordinance, unless the context
otherwise requires, the following expressions shall have the meanings hereby
respectively assigned to them, that is to say—
(a) “Court” or
“
(b) “debt” includes all liabilities of a debtor in
cash or in kind, secured or unsecured, payable under a decree or order of a
Civil Court or otherwise, whether mature or not, but shall not include debts
incurred for the purposes of trade, arrears of wages, land-revenue or anything
recoverable as arrears of land-revenue, or taxes or rates payable to Government
or any local authority, or any debt which is barred by the law of limitation or
a debt due to a co-operative bank, co-operative society or any banking company
registered under the Companies Act, 1913[9][9], or any bank which is a “Scheduled bank” as
defined in the State Bank of Pakistan Act, 1956[10][10];
(c) “debtor” means a person who owes a debt; and—
(i) who both earns his
livelihood mainly by agriculture and is either a land-owner or tenant of
agricultural land; or
(ii) who earns his livelihood
as a village artisan paid in cash or kind for work connected with agriculture;
or
(iii) whose total assets do
not exceed five thousand rupees;
Explanation— A debtor shall not lose his status as such—
(i) through involuntary unemployment or on account
of incapacity, temporary or permanent, by bodily infirmity, or, if he is or has
been in the Armed Forces of Pakistan, only on account of his pay and allowances
or pension exceeding his income from agricultural sources;
(ii) by reason of the fact that he derives income
by using his plough cattle for purposes of transport;
(iii) only because he does not cultivate with his
own hands;
(d) “interest” means rate of interest and includes
the return to be made over and above what was actually lent whether the same is
charged or sought to be recovered specifically by way of interest or otherwise.
3. Powers of the Court to limit interest
recoverable in certain cases.—
Notwithstanding anything contained in any agreement or any law for the time
being in force, no Court shall pass or execute a decree or give effect to an award
in respect of a debt for a larger sum than twice the amount of the sum found by
the Court to have been actually advanced less any amount already received by
the creditor.
4. Deposit in Court.— (1) Any person who owes money may at any
time deposit in Court a sum of money in full or part payment to his creditor.
(2) The Court, on receipt of such deposit,
shall give notice thereof to the creditor and shall, on his application, pay
the sum to him.
(3) From the date of such deposit, interest
shall cease to run on the sum so deposited.
5. Immunity from arrest.— No debtor shall be arrested or imprisoned in
execution of a decree for money, whether passed before or after the
commencement of this Ordinance.
6. Exemption from the provisions of Order
XXI, Rule 2(3) of the Civil
Procedure Code.— Nothing
in Order XXI, Rule 2, sub-rule(3) of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908[11][11], shall apply to an adjustment or payment
made by a debtor.
7. Exemption of houses etc., from
attachment or sale.—
Notwithstanding anything contained in the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908[12][12], the houses and other buildings (with the
materials and the sites thereof and the land immediately appurtenant thereto
and necessary for their enjoyment) belonging to a debtor, shall not be liable
to attachment or sale in execution of any decree, if such houses and other
buildings are not proved by the decree holder to have been let out on rent or
lent to persons other than the debtor’s father, mother, wife, son, daughter,
daughter-in-law, brother, sister or other dependent or left vacant for a period
of a year or more:
Provided that the protection afforded by this section
shall not extend to any property specifically charged with the debt sought to
be recovered.
8. Exemption of milch animals, etc., from
attachment or sale.—
Notwithstanding anything contained in the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908[13][13], milch animals, whether in milk or in calf,
kids, calves, animals used for the purpose of transport or draught, carts and
open spaces or enclosures required by the debtor in case of need for tying
cattle, parking carts or stacking fodder or manure shall not, if they belong to
a debtor, be liable to attachment or sale in execution of any decree:
[14][14][Provided that the protection afforded by
this section shall be available to the debtor only if it is necessary for his
own maintenance or that of his family.]
9. Agreement
for waiving exemption void.— Notwithstanding any other law for the time being in
force any agreement by which a debtor agrees to waive any benefit of any
exemption under 7 or 8 shall be void.
10. Powers of
Court to order payment of amount due on mortgage by instalments.— Notwithstanding
anything contained in any law for the time being in force or in any contract, a
Court may, at the time of passing a decree in any suit relating to a mortgage
by which any loan is secured, order that payment of any amount decreed in such
suit shall be made in such number of instalments and on such dates and subject
to such conditions as, having regard to the circumstances of the debtor and the
amount of the decree, it considers fit.
11. Powers of Court to direct payment of amount
decreed by instalment.—
Notwithstanding anything contained in any law for the time being in force or in
any contract, a Court may, at any time, on the application of a judgment
debtor, after notice to the decree holder, direct that the amount of any
decree, whether passed before or after the commencement of this Ordinance, in
respect of a debt, including any decree in a suit relating to a mortgage by
which any loan is secured, shall be paid in such number of instalments and on
such dates and subject to such conditions as, having regard to the
circumstances of the judgement debtor and the amount of the decree, it
considers fit.
12. Interest after the commencement of this
Ordinance.— Government may,
by notification in the official Gazette, direct that in any specified area no
debtor shall be charged interest on any debt incurred by him after the date of
the notification at a rate higher than that specified in the notification.
13. Power to make rules.— (1) Government may, after previous
publication, make rules[15][15] for carrying into effect the provisions of
this Ordinance.
(2) In particular and without prejudice to
the generality of the foregoing powers such rules may provide—
(a) for determining the Court into which moneys
may be deposited under the provisions of section 4;
(b) for the procedure for keeping accounts of such
deposits and the manner in which notices are to be served on creditors and
payments made to them.
14. Repeal.— The enactments specified in the Schedule are hereby repealed to the
extent mentioned in the fourth column thereof.
SCHEDULE
(See SECTION 14)
|
Year |
No |
Short
Title |
Extent of
Repeal |
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
|
1934 |
VII |
The |
Sections 30 to 36 |
|
1934 |
VII |
The
Punjab Relief of Indebtedness Act, 1934, in its application to the former |
Sections 30 to 36 |
|
1937 |
IV |
The |
The whole. |
|
1939 |
IV |
The |
The whole. |
|
1940 |
VIII |
The |
The whole. |
[1][1]This Ordinance was
promulgated by the Governor of West Pakistan on 17th March, 1960; published in
the West Pakistan Gazette (Extraordinary), dated 27th April, 1960; pages
1759-93; saved and given permanent effect by Article 225 of the Constitution of
the Islamic Republic of Pakistan (1962).
[2][2]Substituted by the Punjab
Laws (Adaptation) Order, 1974 (Pb. A.O. 1 of 1974), for “
[3][3]Ibid.
[4][4]Ibid.
[5][5]Ibid.
[6][6]Substituted by the West
Pakistan Laws (Extension to
[7][7]Substituted by the Punjab
Laws (Adaptation) Order, 1974 (Pb. A.O. 1 of 1974), for “
[8][8]V of 1920.
[9][9]VII of 1913.
[10][10]XXXIII of 1956.
[11][11]V of 1908.
[12][12]Ibid.
[13][13]V of 1908.
[14][14]Added by the
[15][15]For the West Pakistan Relief
of Indebtedness Rules, 1961, see Gazette
of West Pakistan, 1961, Part I, p. 281.
Punjab Relief of Indebtedness Act, 1934
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