17. Application for the determination of the amount of debt due.
(1)Where any debt incurred before the 14th day of July 1978, other than a decree debt, is due by any person who claims that he was a debtor on that date, the debtor or the creditor may apply to the Court having jurisdiction for a declaration of the amount if the debt is due by the debtor on the date of the application:Provided that no such application shall be presented or be maintainable if a suit for the recovery of the debt is pending.Explanation. - The Court having jurisdiction under this section shall be the Court which would have jurisdiction to entertain a suit for the recovery of the debt as unsealed.(2)The provisions of sub-section (1) shall apply also to any person claiming to be such a debtor, who contends that any such debt due by him has been discharged.(3)All persons who would have been necessary parties to a suit for the recovery of the debt shall be impleaded as parties to the application under sub-section (1) or under that sub-section read with sub-section (2).(4)(a)When any such application is made, the Court shall first decide whether the person whom the debt is due was a debtor within the meaning of section 3(3) or not, and if it finds that he was such a debtor, pass an order declaring the amount due by him or declaring that the debt has been discharged, as the case may be.(b)The Court shall dismiss the application if it finds that such person was not a debtor within the meaning of section 3(3).(5)At any time, after passing an order under clause (a) of sub-section (4), the Court shall, on payment by the creditor of the Court-fee payable on a debt for the amount declared due to him, grant a decree to the creditor for such amount:Provided that the creditor may, on his application, be granted a decree for an amount less than that declared due to him on paying the appropriate Court-fee.(6)The Court may order that the Court fee, if any, paid by the creditor under sub-section (5) shall be paid by the debtor in addition to the amount decreed.(7)If the debtor pays into the Court, the amount declared to be due under clause (a) of sub-section (4) or the amount of the decree granted under sub-section (5) together with the costs, if any, ordered to be paid under sub-section (6), the Court shall grant to the debtor a certificate that the debt has been discharged.(8)The procedure laid down in the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (Central Act V of 1908) for the trial of suits shall, as far as may be, apply to applications under this section.(9)No Court shall entertain a suit by the creditor for the recovery of a debt-(i)if an application has been made under sub-section (1) in respect of such debt to a Court having jurisdiction and is pending in such Court; or(ii)if a Court having jurisdiction has passed an order under clause (a) of sub-section (4) in respect of such debt.(10)In computing the period of limitation prescribed for a suit by the creditor for the recovery of a debt, the time, if any, during which the Court was prevented from entertaining the suit by virtue of the provision contained in clause (i) of sub-section (9) shall be excluded.
