Future salary is not a corporal movable property and cannot be attached and sold under Section 421(a) of the CrPC.

1. THIS revision petition is directed against the order dated 31. 1. 85 by which the learned Judicial Magistrate, September ordered attachment of salary of the present petitioner no Miss Case No. 306 of 1975. The following is the order which is under challenge : -

Let the attachment order of salary of the CP. Cora Chand has be issued for realisation of arrear maintenance allowance amounting to Rs. 16,150. 00 and for realisation of current maintenance allowance @ 150/- P. M. payable by the O. P. in favour of the petitioner Gita Ram Das alias Bhattacharjee. The employees of the o. P is hereby directed "to deduct Rs. 150/- p. m. as current maintenance" allowance and Rs. 100/- p. m. towards the arrear maintenance amounting to total sum of Rs. 250/-p. m. and remit the said amount in favour of the petitioner Sm. Gita Rani Das alias Bhattacharjee after deducting the M. O. charge with an intimation to the Court.

2. IT is submitted on behalf of the petitioner that the order of attachment of the salary is illegal and not contemplated under section (a) of the Code of Criminal Procedure and the learned Magistrate has committed an illegality by ordering such attachment of salary. In "support, the petitioner has submitted before this Court a Xerox copy of the judgment of Shamsuddin Ahmed 3 (unreported) in Criminal revision No. 1099 of 1985. Ganga Bishnu v. Sm. Sabitri Debi, by which the learned Judge set aside the order of attachment of salary made by the learned Magistrate in execution of the maintenance order.

It is submitted on behalf of the petitioner that the future salary payable to the present petitioner month by month is not a corporal movable property and consequently., clause (a) of section 421 of the code is not attracted and the order of attachment of salary as passed by the learned Magistrate is illegal.

3. ON behalf of the opposite part the decisions reported in Punjab and Haryana Court reported in 1984 Cr. L. J. (N. O. C.) 175 and of calcutta High Court reported in AIR 1956 Cal. 135 have been cited. It is urged that the Calcutta High Court under the Crl. Code has also approved the salary attachment. It is also urged that in view of the provisions of section 128 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the Magistrate has now the power to order attachment of salary himself and has got no obligation to direct the Collector to recover the maintenance due under clause (b) of section 421 of the Criminal procedure Code. He therefore wished to distinguish the decision of calcutta High Court under the Old Code reported in AIR 1956 Calcutta 135.

4. I have heard the submissions made by both the parties at length. I have also perused the judgment passed by Shamsuddin Ahmed J. in Criminal Revision No. 1099 of 1985, that under section 421 (a)of the Code the learned Magistrate has got no power to recover the maintenance dues by attachment of salary as movable property. The question arises as to whether the salary is a movable property which can be attached and sold. There can be no doubt that salary cannot be sold, section 22 of the Indian Penal Code defining the movable property indicates that, the movable property includes ail corporeal property except land and things attached to the earth or permanently fatened or anything which is attached to the earth.

Now, the question arises as to whether the salary can be a corporeal property. The decision of the Punjab and Haryana High Court has been perused by me. There the salary was odered to be attached as such salary was lying in Treasury and that was not a future salary. The impugned order which has been quoted by me in the begining of this order, clearly indicates for recovery of more than Rs. 15,000/-and also current maintenance. The order of attachment of salary has been made which is nothing but an order of attachment of future salary. Therefore such attachment of future salary which appears to be for a period till the whole maintenance dues are recovered cannot be held to be an attachmen