The main legal point established in the judgment is that Dearness Allowance and House Rent Allowance granted to Central Government servants are exempt from attachment, while Provident Fund contribution cannot be excluded from the attachable portion of the salary.

1. The defendant-judgment-debtor in a decree for money is the revision petitioner. She is employed as a Programme Announcer in the All India Radio, Kozhikode, an establishment of the Central Government.

The decree-holder applied to attach her salary to realise the amount. She gets a total emolument of Rs. 1046-50 as shown hereunder:

Table:1

The lower court has ordered to attach Rs. 200/- per month from her salary. This is challenged in this revision petition.

2. According to the petitioner's counsel the amount received by the petitioner by way of Dearness Allowance and House Rent Allowance are not attachable. It is further submitted that out of her emoluments the petitioner pays Rs. 60/ per month towards Provident Fund subscription and that also has to be excluded in reckoning the portion of the salary that can be attached. The question is whether this is right.

3. The proviso to S.60 (1) CPC. contains the particulars of the items which are not attachable and to our purpose clauses (i), (ia), (k), (1) and Explanation II alone need be looked into. They read as follows:

"60. Property liable to attachment and sale in execution of decree (1)

Provided that the following particulars shall not be liable to such attachment or sale, namely:

(a) xx xx xx xx

(h) xx xx xx

(i) salary to the extent of the first four hundred rupees and two thirds of the remainder in execution of any decree other than a decree for maintenance;

xx

(ia) one third of the salary in execution of any decree for maintenance; 0) xx xx xx

(k) all compulsory deposits and other sums in or derived from any fund to which the Provident Funds Act, 1925, for the time being applies in so far as they are declared by the said Act not to be liable to attachment.

(1) Any allowance forming part of the emoluments of any servant of Government or of any servant of a railway company or local authority which the appropriate Government may by notification in the Official Gazette declare to be exempt from attachment, and any subsistence grant or allowance made to any such servant while under suspension.

(m) xx xx xx xx

Explanation II In clauses (i) and (ia) "salary" means the total monthly emoluments, excluding any allowance declared exempt from attachment under the provisions of clause (1), derived by a person from his employment whether on duty or on leave."

It will be seen from these provisions that'salary' takes in all emoluments excluding any allowance declared exempt from attachment under the provisions of clause (1). Clause (1) is a special provision relating to a servant of a Government or a servant of a Railway Company or local authority. With respect to them only if the appropriate Government has by notification in the Official Gazette declared any allowance as exempt from attachment such allowance can be excluded. The petitioner's counsel submitted that in respect of the Central Government servants there is a notification by that Government exempting House Rent Allowance and allowance granted to provide relief against the increased cost of living from attachment. That notification is an old one and is published in the Gazette of India dated 25th March 1949 being Notification No. 47/4/49/Estss. This notification was slightly amended by another one dated 31st May 1949. That is not material for our purpose. The notification is reproduced as Note 2 to R.225 of the Central Government Compilation of the Treasury Rules, Volume I. That is reproduced here for convenience:

"Note 2. The following declarations have been issued by the Central Government under clause (1) of the proviso to sub-section (1) of S.60 of the Code of Civil procedure:

(1) The allowances payable to officers in India subject to the (British) Array and Air Force Acts shall be exempt from attachment by order of a Court in satisfaction of a liability incurred after the 31st December 1938.

(2) The following allowances payable to any public officer in the service of the Government, or any servant of a Federal Railway or of a Can