Mary Chacko vs Jancy Joseph on 5 August, 2005
When a decree for money is sought to be executed under Section 25 of the Consumer Protection Act by a Civil Court, necessarily Civil Court has to bear in mind Section 56 of the Code of Civil Procedure which states that the Court shall not order the arrest or detention in the civil prison of a woman in execution of a decree for payment of money. Therefore, when Civil Court is executing an order passed by the Forum it cannot order arrest of a woman for recovery of the amount. Section 27 of the Act also confers additional power upon the Forum to execute its order. When an order is sought to be executed under Section 25 by a Civil Court, woman cannot be arrested in execution of the order passed by the Forum since Section 56 is applicable in execution of the decree through a Civil Court. Same analogy could be applied when the Forum itself seeks to execute a similar order under Section 27 of the Act. Just like Civil Court, in our view, Forum should also bear in mind the provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure when an application is made before it for arrest of a woman in execution of money decree. Madras High Court in Registrar, University of Madras v. Union of India and Ors., 1996 CCJ 668 has stated that the Forum should bear in mind the provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure when powers under Section 27 are exercised. We also subscribe the same view when an application is made not only under Section 25 but also under Section 27 of the Act for execution of an order passed by the Forum for realization of money.