In the attachment and sale of movable property, the follo wing rules shall be observed : -
(a) The Sale Officer shall , after giving previous notice to the decree - holder, proceed to the vil lage where the judgment -debtor resides, or the property to be attached is si tuated and served a demand notice upon the judgment -debtor, if he is present. If the amount due together with the expenses be not at once paid, the Sale Officer shall make the attachment by sei zure or otherwise and shall immediately deliver to the judgment -debtor a l ist or inventory of the property attached and an intimation of the place and the day and hour at which the attached property will be brought to sale if the amounts due are not previously discharged. If the judgment -debtor is absent, the Sale Officer shall serve the demand notice on some adult male member of his family, or on his authorised agent, or where such service cannot be affected, shall affix a copy of the demand notice on some conspicuous part of his residence. He shal l then proceed to make the attachment and shall f ix the l ist of property attached on the usual place of residence of the judgment - debtor, endorsing thereon the place where the property may be lodged or kept and an intimation of the place, day and hour of sale.
(b) After the attachment is made, the Sale Officer may arrange for the custody of the property attached, with the decree-holder or otherwise. If the Sale Officer requires the decree-holder to undertake the custody of the property he shall be bound to do and any loss incurred owing to his negligence shall be made good by the decree-holder. If the attached property is l ive -stock, the decree - holder shall be responsible for providing the necessary fodder therefore. The Sale Officer may, at the instance of the judgmentdebtor or of any other person claiming an interest in such property, leave i t in the vil lage or place where i t was attached, in the charge of such judgment -debtor or person, if he enters into a bond in the form specified by the Registrar with one or more sufficient sureties for the production of the property when called for.
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(c)No attachment shall be made after sunset and before sunrise.
(d)The attachment made shall not be excessive, that is to say, the property attached shall be in value as nearly as possible proportionate in the sum due by the judgment -debtor, together with interest and all expenses incidental to the attachment and sale.
(e) If crops or ungathered products of the land belonging to a judgment - debtor are attached, the Sale Officer may cause them to be sold when fi t for reaping or gathering, or at his option may cause them to be reaped or gathered in due season and stored in proper place unti l sold. In the lat ter case the expenses of r eaping or gathering and storing such crops or products shall be defrayed by the owner upon his redeeming the property or from the proceeds of the sale in the event of i ts being sold.
(f) The Sale Officer shall not work the bullocks or catt le, or make use of the goods or movables attached and he shall provide the necessary fodder for the catt le or l ive -stock, the expenses attending which shall be defrayed by the owner upon his redeeming the property, or from the proceeds of the sale in the event of i ts bein g sold.
(g) It shall be lawful for the Sale Officer to force upon any stable, cow-house, granary, godown, out -house or other building and he may also enter any dwelling house the outer door of which may be open and may break open the door of any room in s uch dwelling house for the purpose of at taching property belonging to a judgment -debtor and lodged therein, provided always that i t shall not be lawful for him to break open or enter apartment in such dwelling-house appropriated for the zanana or residence of women except as hereinafter provided.
(h)Where the Sale Officer may have reason to suppose that the property of a judgment -debtor is lodged within a dwelling -house, the outer door of which may be shut or within any apartment appropriated to women, which by custom or usage are considered private, the Sale Officer shall report the fact to the Officer in-charge of the nearest police station. On such report the Officer -in-charge of the said station shall send a police officer to the spot in the presence of whom the Sale Officer may force open the outer door of such dwelling-house or break open the door of any room within the house except the room appropriated by women. The Sale Officer may also, in the presence of the police officer after due notice given f or the removal of women within a zanana and after furnishing means for their removal in a suitable manner, if they be women of rank who, according to the custom or usage cannot appear in public, enter the 63 zanana apartments for the purpose of at taching the judgmentdebtor‟s property, if any, deposited therein, but such property, if found, shall be immediately removed from such apartments after which they shall be lef t free to the former occupants.
( i) The Sale Officer shall cause proclamation of the t ime an d place of the intended sale to be made by beat of drum in the vil lage in which the judgment -debtor resides and in such other place or places, as the Sale Officer may consider necessary to give due publicity to the sale. No sale shall take place unti l afte r the expiration of the period of fif teen days from the date on which the sale notice has been served or affixed in the manner prescribed in clause (a) :
Provided that where the property attached is subject to speedy and natural decay or where the expenses of keeping i t in custody is l ikely to exceed i ts value, the Sale Officer may sell i t at any t ime before the expiry of the said period of fif teen days, unless the amount due is sooner paid.
( j ) At the appointed time, the property shal l be put for sale in one or more lots, as the Sale Officer may consider advisable, and shall be disposed of to the highest bidder :
Provided that i t shall be open to the Sale Officer to decline to accept the highest bid where the price offered appears to be unduly low or for other reasons. Where the property is sold for more than the amount due, the excess amount, after deducting the interest and the expenses of process and the other changes, shall be paid to the judgment -debtor:
Provided further that the Recovery Officer or th e Sale Officer may, in his discretion, adjourn the sale to a specified day and hour recording his reasons for such adjournment. Where the sale is so adjourned for a longer period than seven days, a fresh proclamation under clause (i) shall be made unless t he judgment - debtor consents to waive i t .
(k)The property sold shall be paid for in cash at the t ime of sale, or as soon thereafter as the officer holding the sale shall appoint, and the purchaser shall not be permitted to carry away any part of the property unti l he has paid for i t in full . If the purchaser fails in the payment of purchase money, the property shall be resold.
( l)Where i t is proved to the satisfaction of any Civil Court of competent jurisdiction that any property which has been attached under these rules has been forcibly or clandestinely removed by any person, the Court may order forthwith such property to be restored to the Sale Officer.
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(m)Where prior to the day fixed for sale, the judgment -debtor or any person acting on his behalf or any person claiming an interest in the property attached, pays the full amount due including interest , bhatta and other costs incurred in attaching the property, the Sale Officer shall cancel the order of at tachment and release the property forthwith.
(n) The movable properties exempted from attachment by the proviso to Section 60 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, shall not be l iable to attachment or sale under these rules.