PUNJAB RELIEF OF INDEBTEDNESS ORDINANCE, 1960

Exact source transcription retained, including print layout and extraction artifacts. Text SHA-256: 3c5aa8bbeeef94b612bf8f272b063b763cca9eac57a6c0529f9ce8f3fba5626c.

THE PUNJAB RELIEF OF INDEBTEDNESS ORDINANCE, 
1960 
(XV of 1960) 
CONTENTS 
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 instalments. 
12. Interest after the commencement of this Ordinance. 
13. Power to make rules. 
14. Repeal. 
SCHEDULE 
 
 
TEXT 
1
THE 
2
[PUNJAB] RELIEF OF INDEBTEDNESS ORDINANCE, 1960 
(XV of 1960) 
[27 April 1960] 
An 
Ordinance 
to amend and consolidate the law relating to the relief of indebtedness in the 
Province of 
3
[the Punjab]. 
Preamble.– WHEREAS it is expedient to amend and consolidate the law relating to 
the relief of indebtedness in the Province of 
4
[the Punjab]; 
 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
[Punjab] Relief 
of Indebtedness Ordinance, 1960. 
 
6
[(2) It extends to the whole of the Province of  
7
[the Punjab] , exce pt the 
Tribal Areas.] 
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 “Civil Court” includes a Court of insolv ency, a  receiver 
appointed under the Provincial Insolvency Act, 1920
8
, and an arbitrator 
appointed with the consent of the parties or by an order of a Court; 
(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 
                                                           
1This Ordinance was promulgated by the Governor of West Pakistan on March 17, 1960 , published in the West Pakistan 
Gazette (Extraordinary), dated April 27, 1960 , pp. 1759-1793; saved and given permanent effect by Article 225 of the 
Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan (1962). 
2Substituted for the words “West Pa kistan” by the Punjab Laws (Adaptation) Order, 1974 (1 of 1974)  (w.e.f 14.8.1973), 
published in the Punjab Gazette (Extraordinary), dated November 20, 1974, pp. 1425-A-1425-PP, s. 2 read with Schedule, Part 
III, Serial No. 38. 
3Ibid. 
4Ibid. 
5Ibid. 
6Substituted by the West Pakistan Laws (Extension to Karachi) Ordinance, 1964 (VII of 1964), published in the Gazette of West 
Pakistan (Extraordinary), dated May 25, 1964, pp. 1679-1688, s. 2 read with Schedule, Serial No. 36. 
7Substituted for the words “West Paki stan” by the Punjab Laws (Adaptation) Order, 1974 (1 of 1974)  (w.e.f 14.8.1973), 
published in the Punjab Gazette (Extraordinary), dated November 20, 1974, pp. 1425-A-1425-PP, s. 2 read with Schedule, Part 
III, Serial No. 38. 
8V of 1920. 
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
1
, or any bank which is a “scheduled bank” as de fined in the State 
Bank of Pakistan Act, 1956
2
; 
(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 villa ge 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 b y 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. 
                                                           
1VII of 1913. 
2XXXIII of 1956. 
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 fr om 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
1
, shall apply to an adjustment or payment made by a debtor. 
7. Exemption of houses, etc., from attachmen t or sale .– Notwithstanding 
anything contained in the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908
2
, 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 de btor, 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
3
, milch 
animals, whether in milk or in calf, kids, calves, animals used for the purpose of 
transport or draught, carts and open spa ces 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: 
 
4
[Provided that the protection afforde d 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 a grees to waive any benefit 
of any exemption under section 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 a s, 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 instalments .– 
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 
                                                           
1V of 1908. 
2V of 1908. 
3V of 1908. 
4Added by the Punjab Relief of Indebtedness Ordinance (Amendment) Ordinance, 1985 (XVI of 1985), published in the Gazette 
of Punjab (Extraordinary), dated February 23, 1985, s. 2. 
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 judgment 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 notifica tion at a 
rate higher than that specified in the notification. 
13. Power to make rules .– (1) Government may, after previous publication, 
make rules
1
 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 t o 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 Punjab Relief of Indebtedness 
Act, 1934. 
Sections 30 
to 36. 
1934 VII The Punjab Relief of Indebtedness 
Act, 1934, in its application to the 
former Bahawalpur State. 
Sections 30 
to 36. 
1937 IV The North -West Frontier Province 
Petty Zamindars Relief Act, 1936. 
The whole. 
1939 IV The North -West Frontier Province 
Agriculturists Debtors’ Relief Act, 
1939. 
The whole. 
1940 VIII The Sind Agriculturists Relief Act, 
1940. 
The whole. 
 
                                                           
1The rules titled “the West Pakistan Relief of Indebtedness Rules, 1961” were issued vide Notification No. L&F-II-17/50-56, 
dated May 24, 1961, published in the Gazette of West Pakistan, Part I, dated June 9, 1961, p. 281.