NANDURI VIJAYA BHASKAR Vs. SATYAMSETTI VEERAVENKATA APPA RAO

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The revision petitioner is the judgment debtor. The respondent filed a suit, O.S. No 194/70 on the file of the 3rd Additional District Munsif's Court, Kakinada, which was decreed. Thereafter he filed E. P. No. 299/82 in the same Court for recovery of the decretal amount by attaching the salary of the petitioner. The petitioner was working as a Staff Correspondent of the Indian Express Limited, Madurai, his disbursing officer being at Vijayawada. The executing Court allowed the E.P., by ordering attachment of the petitioner's salary subject to the provisions of section 60 of the Civil Procedure Code. Aggrieved by the caid order of attachment, the present revision is filed.

(2.) The main contention of the learned counsel for the petitioner is that as per Order 21 Rule 48-A of the Code of Civil Procedure the order of attachment under revision is without jurisdiction since the disbursing officer of the petitioner at Vijayawada is beyond the local limits of the executing Court's jurisdiction. To appreciate this contention it is necessary to look into Order 21 Rules 48 and 48-A of the Code of Civil Procedure. Order 21 Rule 48 is as follows:

(3.) As seen Order 21 Rule 48-A takes-in cases not covered by Order 21 Rule 48. As already stated Order 21 Rule 48 is not applicable to the judgment- debtor in the present case To have recourse to rule 48-A, the provision clearly states that the disbursing officer of the judgment-debtpr shall have to be within the local limits of the executing Court's jurisdiction. This pre-conditioning is unlike rule 48 whereunder the executing Court may or may not have the territorial jurisdiction over the judgment(employee) or his disbursing officer. Thus, for a Court to exercise the powers under Order 21 rule 48-A, it is mandatory that the disbursing officer of the judgment-debtor shall have to be within the local limits of its jurisdiction. In the present case the disbursing officer of the petitioner judgment-debtor being at Vijayawada is not within the local limits of jurisdiction of the District Munsifis Court at Kakinada.