# UNION OF INDIA v. JYOTI CHIT FUND & FINANCE & ORS

- **Citation:** [1976] 3 S.C.R. 763
- **Court:** Supreme Court of India
- **Decided:** 1976-03-22
- **Case number:** Civil Revision No. 26 of 1970
- **Bench:** Y. V. Chandrachud, V. R. Krishna Iyer
- **Source:** https://unisonlegal.in/judgment/supreme-court-of-india/union-of-india-v-jyoti-chit-fund-finance-ors-6825
- **Pages:** 6

## Headnote

Provident Funds Act, 1925, Ss. 3 and 4-Provident fund and allied a1nounts
ff/ll due, whether exclusion from attachability continues-Objection to attachnzent
taken pro bono publico by Union of India, if valid-'Locus standi', scope of.
A
B
The appellant Union of India objected to the attachment of certain provid_~nt
fund and pension dues held by it (on behalf of the Rajya Sabha Secretariat) in
trust for the fourth respondent, an ex·employee of the Rajya Sabha Secretariat.
The attachment was sought in satisfaction of a money·decree held by the first
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respondent.
The High Court dismissed the appellant's Civil Revision petition
upholding the decision of the executing court.
In appeal by special leave, the appellant contended before this Court that
<11though a third party to the suit, the state had acted pro bono publico, by objccing to the illegality of the proposed attachment, and that it was a question of
principle, afiecting a wide circle of government servants.
The respondent contended that the amounts having already fallen due, had lost the character of provident fund or pension under Ss. 3 and 4, and had become attachable, and also
that the government had no (ocus standi to object to the attachmen.
Allowing the appeal, the Court
HELD : ( 1) So long as the amounts are Provident Fund dues then, till they
are actually paid to the government servant who is entitled to it on retirement
or otherwise, the nature of the dues is not altered. The government is a trustee
for those sums and has an interest in maintaining
the objection in court, to
attachment.
f767D-EJ
Union of India v. Radha Kissen Aganvalla & Anr. [1969] 3 S.C.R. 28, followed.
(2) Cases where public policy is involved and the court has a certain duty
to observe statutory prohibitions, a wider concept of locus standi has to be taken .
. Any public authority interested in the matter, and not behaving as an officious
busy-body may bring to the notice of the court the illegality of the steps it proposes to take. When the court's jurisdiction is so invoked, it may be exercised
\>."ithout insisting on some other directly affected party appearing to defend himself. [767F-GJ
(3) The argument that the Rajya Sabha Secretariat is different from
the
Union of India, has the merit of novelty, little else. [767 G & 768HJ

## Text

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763
UNION OF INDIA
v.
JYOTI CHIT FUND & FINANCE & ORS.
March 22, 1976
[Y. V. CHANDRACHUD AND V. R. KRISHNA IYER, JJ.J
Provident Funds Act, 1925, Ss. 3 and 4-Provident fund and allied a1nounts
ff/ll due, whether exclusion from attachability continues-Objection to attachnzent
taken pro bono publico by Union of India, if valid-'Locus standi', scope of.
A
B
The appellant Union of India objected to the attachment of certain provid_~nt
fund and pension dues held by it (on behalf of the Rajya Sabha Secretariat) in
trust for the fourth respondent, an ex·employee of the Rajya Sabha Secretariat.
The attachment was sought in satisfaction of a money·decree held by the first
C
respondent.
The High Court dismissed the appellant's Civil Revision petition
upholding the decision of the executing court.
In appeal by special leave, the appellant contended before this Court that
<11though a third party to the suit, the state had acted pro bono publico, by objccing to the illegality of the proposed attachment, and that it was a question of
principle, afiecting a wide circle of government servants.
The respondent contended that the amounts having already fallen due, had lost the character of provident fund or pension under Ss. 3 and 4, and had become attachable, and also
that the government had no (ocus standi to object to the attachmen.
Allowing the appeal, the Court
HELD : ( 1) So long as the amounts are Provident Fund dues then, till they
are actually paid to the government servant who is entitled to it on retirement
or otherwise, the nature of the dues is not altered. The government is a trustee
for those sums and has an interest in maintaining
the objection in court, to
attachment.
f767D-EJ
Union of India v. Radha Kissen Aganvalla & Anr. [1969] 3 S.C.R. 28, followed.
(2) Cases where public policy is involved and the court has a certain duty
to observe statutory prohibitions, a wider concept of locus standi has to be taken .
. Any public authority interested in the matter, and not behaving as an officious
busy-body may bring to the notice of the court the illegality of the steps it proposes to take. When the court's jurisdiction is so invoked, it may be exercised
\>."ithout insisting on some other directly affected party appearing to defend himself. [767F-GJ
(3) The argument that the Rajya Sabha Secretariat is different from
the
Union of India, has the merit of novelty, little else. [767 G & 768HJ
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Civil Appeal No.
2179
of
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Appeal by Special Leave from the Judgment and Order dated the
1st May, 1970 of the Delhi High Court in Civil Revision No. 26
of 1970.
G. L. Sanghi, Girish Chandra a1U/ S. P. Nayar for the Appellants.
K. B. Rohtagi, M. K. Garg, V. K. Jain and M .. K. Rastogi for
H
Respondent No. 1.
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
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764
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
(1976] 3 S.C.R.
KRISHNA IYER, J.-The moral of this case is that a short cut may
often be a wrong cut-in law, as in life.
The ratio of this appeal is
that technicality will not triumph in courts of law and justice, where
substantial public policy is involved and it is such public policy which
humanistically protects provident fund and pensionary dues of government servants from claims of judgment-creditors to attach in satisfaction of decrees.
The appellant, the Union of India, has come up in appeal, by
special leave, challenging a laconic order of dismissal in Civil Revision
made by the Delhi High Court, thus upholding the view of tlhe executing court over-ruling the contention of the State, objecting to the
attachment of certain provident fund and pension dues held by Union
of India (on behalf of the Rajya Sabha Secretariat) in trust for the
judgment-debtor who had been employed in the Rajya Sabha Secretariat.
The first court had held that the Union of India had no locus
standi to object to the attachment by the decree-holder on the score
that an outsider to the snit without 'interest in the attached money'
has standing to intervene to dispute the attachability even if the sum
was clearly innnune to attachment in law.
The relev~nt reasoning
is in these terms :
"It is not the case of the Union of India that Union of
India has any interest in the attached property so as to enc
title Union of India to make an application under Order 21,
r. 58 CPC.
In my opinion, if the attachment has been
wrongly made it is for the judgment-debtor to make an application to the court for releasing the provident fund or
the compulsory deposits from attachment."
The Court also expressed the view that it was premature to hbld :
"that attached money will fall within the definition oj'
provident fund or compulsory deposit."
In fairness to the Subordinate Judge it must be said he did feel
'inclined to agree that provident fund and compulsory deposits are
not liable to any attachment under any decree or order of the. civil
court.
The ground which weighed with the trial court and has 'Won the
approval of the High Court is that "the Government has no interest
in the attached money and therefore no· standing to come to •·court.
The judgment-debtor may file objections for release of the att~ched
money.
The objections, if made, will be decided afresh on 'nwrits."
It is apparent from this statement of facts that the courts below' took
the narrow view, with an escapist flavour which led to long litigation
and large expense, that only the judgment-debtor and not the Govemment could raise objections regarding non-attachability of pJ;qllident
fund and pension amounts, as if Government were an officious intruder, bereft of any concern in the insultion of the amounts agairlst execution of decrees of court.
The amount involved is small, but Shri Sanghi, for the appellant,
contends that the question is one of principle and affects a wid.fi ·circle
of government servants.
We agree and indeed appreciftte the State's
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UNION v. JYOTI CHIT FUND (Krishna Iyer, J.)
765
anxiety to fulfil the policy of the statute on behalf of the weakerA
sections by taldng up the burden on itself.
May be, it is like a
test case ventilating a cause in which a large number of employees
'
may be vitally involved.
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We may make it clear here that the stand taken by Shri Rohatgi,
counsel for the respondent, is two-fold.
He argues firstly that this
amount in the hands of Govermnent is admittedly being held on behalf
of the Rajya Sabha Secretariat servant who has just retired a,nd,
therefore, has lost the character of provident fund or pension. The
inhibition of attachment of provident fund and like amounts,
even
if valid, cannot apply to this class of sums which have suffered
a
metamorphesis.
Secondly, the Govermnent has no right to move the
court raising objection to the attachment since the judgment-debtor
is the only appropriate person who can do so.
We disagree.
Processual law is neither petrified nor purblind but has simple
mission-the promotion of justice.
The court cannot content itself
with playing umpire in a technical game of legal skills but must be
activist in the cause of deciding the real issues between the parties.
And one guiding principle is not to exaggerate the efficacy of procedural defects where issues of public concern are involved and a public
authority vitally interested in the correct principle alerts the attention of the court to the problem.
A broadened view of locus standi
loads to the futility of technical flaws where larger issnes are involved
--and that is the trend of modern processual jurisprudence. These
general considerations were trite, yet too often ignored, and so need
reiteration.
Further, the consumers of justice can have scant respect for a procedural policy which is obsessed more with who sparks
the plugs of the court system than with what the merits of the rights
or wrongs of the relief are.
A shift on the emphasis, away from
technical legalistics, is overdue if the Juc!icature is not to aid its grave
diggers.
We express the view strongly so that hopefuls may be dissuaded from taking up court time by playing up technicalities.
We may now move on to a consideration of the basic contentions
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and, before that, the basic facts may be briefly set down.
On March
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31, 1967 a money decree for a little over Rs. 2,000/- was passed in
Suit No. 516 of 1966 in favour of respondent No. 1 and against respondents 2 to 4 (who are ex parte).
A warrant or attachment of
the 'funds' of respondent No. 4, in the hands of the Rajya Sabha
Secretariat, was songht and ordered. It reads :
"To
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The Pay & Acounts Officer,
Rajya Sabha Secretariat,
New Delhi.
Whereas judgment-debtor No. 3, Shri S. Krishnaswamy, an
ex-reporter has failed to satisfy a decree passed against him
on the 31st day of March, 1967 in suit No. 516/66 in favonr of M/s Jyoti Chit Fund and Finance P.
Ltd.,
for
Rs. 2193-50. It is ordered that 11he defendant judgmentdebtor is hereby prohibited and restrained until the furthr.r
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766
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[1976] 3 S.C.R.
order of this Court from receiving from the Pay and Accounts Officer the following property in possession of the
said Pay and Accounts Officer that is to say Rs. 2193-50
to which the defendant judgment-debtor is entitled, subject
to any claim of the said J. D. and the said Pay and Accounts
Officer is hereby prohibited and restrained; until the further
order of this court from delivering of the said property to
any person.
Given under my hand and seal of the Court on 12th
day of September 1968.
Sd/-
Sub-Judge 1st Class, Delhi."
On service of the attachment order, objection was raised by the
appellant, Union of India, on January 30, 1969 on the score
that
provident fund amounts and pensionary benefits were not 'liable to
attachment and therefore the order may be rescinded.
The decreeholder (respondent 1) successfully contested in the trial court and
on the objection being over-ruled, the appellant moved the High
Court. It may be stated, at tltis stage, that the trial Court did not
actually investigate the claim of the appellant as to whether the whole,
or part of the amount sought to be attached, represented provident
fund or pensionary benefits nor did the High Court go into the question.
This means that even if we uphold the contention of the appellant, the case will have to go back for investigation on the merits
We may formulate what has been indicated-the actual points
urged
before
us by Shri Sanghi and vigorously controverted by
Shri Rohtagi.
(1) Is it permissible in law for amounts representing
provident fund contributions and pensionary benefits to be attached,
having due regard to ss. 3 and 4 of the Provident Funds Act, s. 11 of
the Pensions Act and s. 60(1), provisos (g) and (k) of C.P.C.?
(2) Is the Union of India entitled to move the Court and request it
to investigate the question tl\at the whole or part of the sum in its
hands on account of the judgment-debtor as provident fund, compulsory deposits and pensionary benefits and,. therefore, not liable
to be attached, or is it out of bounds for a third party to the suit, like
the Union of India, even if the step be taken pro bona publico by a
relevant public authority, to invoke the jurisdiction of the Court in
this behalf?
(3) Is the Rajya Sabha Secretariat staff so totally separated from the Union of India that the latter cannot urge, in these
proceedings, the claims belonging to employees of the said Secretariat
in the civil court even if the attachment of the sums involved is contrary to law? We are inclined to hold,, without hesitation that on all
the points the appellant is bound to succeed.
A bare reading
of
ss. 3 and 4 of the Provident Funds Act, 1925, read with s. 2(a) of
that Act, will convince anyone that attachment of amounts
bearing
their description are prohibited. It will be a gross violation of legal
mandates involving public interest if, in the teeth of such injunction,
an attachment should still be ordered by a court.
The finer distinction sought to be made by Shri Rohatgi that because the appellant has already retired, therefore, the provident fund
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UNION v. JYOTI CHIT FUND (Krishna Tyer, J.)
767
and allied amounts have already fallen due and have ceased to posA
sess the complexion of sums 'by way of provident fund under ss. 3
and 4', is fallacious.
On first principles and on precedent, we are
clear in our minds that these sums, if they are of the character set up
by the Union of India, are beyond the reach of the court's power to
attach.
Section 2(a) of the Provident Funds Act has also to be
read in this connection to remove possible doubts because this deliB
nitional clause is of wide amplitude.
Moreover, s-60( I), provides
(g) and (kl. leave no doubt on the point o' non-attachability.
The
matter is so plain that discussion is uncalled for.
We may state without fear of contradiction that provident fund
amounts, pensions and other compulsory deposits covered by
the
provisions we have referred to, retain their character until they reach
the hands of the employee.
The reality of the protection is reduced
to illusory formality if we accept the interpretation sought.
We take
a contrary view which means that attachment is possible and lawful
only after such amounts are recevied by the employee. If doubts may
possible be entertained on this question, the decision in Union of l ndia
v. Radha Kissen Agarwala & Anr.( 1) erases them. Indeed, cur case is
au aforriori one, on the facts. A bare reading of Radha Kissen makes
th~ proposition fool-proof that so long as the amounts are Provident
Fund dues them, till they are actually paid to the government servant
who is entitled to it on retirement or otherwise the nature of the dues
is not altered. What is more, that case is also authority for the benignant view that the government is a trustee for those sums and has an
interest in maintaining the objection in court to attachment. We follow
that ruling and over-rule the contention.
lt is possible to take a broad view that cases where public policy
is involved and the court has a certain duty to observe statutory prohibitions, a wider concept of locus standi has to be
taken.
Any
public authority interested in the matter and not behaving partially as
an officious busy-body may bring to the notice of the court the illegality of • .. the steps it proposes to take.
When the court's jurisdiction is
so invoked, it may be exercised without insisting on some other directly affected party, like the judgment-dehtor in the instant case, appearing to defend himself.
The argument that the Rajya Sabha Secretariat is different from the
Union of India is a new gloss which Shri Rohatgi has put upon his
contention of locus standi.
He has pressed into service Articles 300
and 98 (2) of the Constitution of India, neither of which is helpful or
(I) (1969) 3 SCR 28.
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SUPREME COURT REPORTS
(1976] 3 S.C.R.
applicable.
This point has the merit of nov"1ty, little else.
quentially,
we set aside the decision of the High Court and
executing court, but this is not the end of the matter.
Conseof the
We direct the court of the Subordinate Judge to go into
the
merits of the objection raised by the Union of India as to whether
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the entire amount or any portion thereof held by it on behalf of the
Rajya Sabha Secretariat staff, so far as the judgment-debtor in this
case is concerned, represents provident fund and compulsory deposits
or pensionary benefits, excluded from attachability in execution
of
civil decrees under the provisions already adverted to. If it is feasible to effect service of notice on the judgment-debtor, well and good,
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but if it is not, the court cannot absolve itself of the duty to investigate into the merits of the claim or character of the amounts, so long
as the U uion of India is ready to mak<;_ good its contention.
The appeal is allowed with costs in this Court.
M.R.
Appeal allowed.
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