Section 12 in The Haryana Relief of Agricultural Indebtedness Act, 1976
12. Notice calling creditors to submit statement of debts.
(1)On the date fixed, the debt settlement officer shall publish, in such manner as may be prescribed, a notice, calling upon every creditor of the debtor to submit a statement of debts owed to such creditor by the debtor. Such statement wherein the creditor shall show whether he is registered under the Punjab Registration of Money Lenders Act, 1938 (Punjab Act 3 of 1938), and had complied with the provisions thereof, shall be submitted to the debt settlement officer in writing within a period of two months from the date of publication of the notice :Provided that, if the debt settlement officer is satisfied that any creditor was, for good and sufficient cause, unable to comply with such direction or to produce the documents required under sub-section (1) of Section 13 within the period fixed, it may extend the period for the submission of his statement of the debts owed to him or for the production of such documents.(2)Every debt owed to a single creditor of which no such statement has been submitted to the debt settlement officer in compliance with the provisions of sub-section (1) shall be deemed to be duly discharged for all purposes and all occasions against creditor; and every debt, owed to two or more creditors jointly, of which such a statement or statements signed by all such creditors or their recognised agents has or have not been submitted, shall be deemed to be so discharged against such creditors as have failed to submit, the said statement but only to the extent of their respective shares in the said debt.(3)If the creditor or any of the joint creditors fails without sufficient cause to be present in person or by his recognised agent or, with the permission of the debt settlement officer by legal practitioner at any of the hearings fixed by the debt settlement officer, or fails to produce full particulars and documents as required under sub-section (1) of Section 13, the debt due to him or to the joint creditors, as the case may be, shall be deemed for all purposes and all occasions to have been fully discharged.(4)If any creditor proves to the satisfaction of the debt settlement officer that the notice was not served on him and that he had no knowledge of its publication or that he was unavoidably absent at any of the hearings fixed by the debt settlement officer, the debt settlement officer may receive that debt.
