NEED FOR CONSTANT VIGIL AND SURVEILLANCE OVER THE

MODULE OF TRAINING FOR THE MINISTERIAL STAFF

ATTACHED TO COURTS

PREPARED BY B.S.MEHANDIRATTA, FACULTY MEMBER

PROCESS-SERVING ESTABLISHMENT

Educating the process servers for proper & effective service of

summons

NEED FOR CONSTANT VIGIL AND SURVEILLANCE

OVER THE WORKING OF THE PROCESS SERVING

ESTABLISHMENT

Questions are raised time and again regarding the

working of the Process Serving Establishment. Complaints are

received that the process servers/bailiffs, despite having

adequate time, do not put in the desired effort for service of

summons/execution of warrants due to sheer lethargy, lack of

knowledge of the procedure and connivance with the opposite

party. This causes delay in the disposal of cases. It would not be

an exaggeration to say that almost 60% delay in the disposal of

cases occurs due to delay in service of opposite parties and

witnesses. Constant vigil and surveillance over the working of

the Process Serving Agencies is, therefore, indispensable at all

the times. Hon’ble Supreme Court also emphasized this need in

Salem Advocate Bar Assn. (II) v. Union of India, (2005) 6 SCC

344 as under:-

“ 28. While considering the submissions of

learned counsel, it has to be borne in mind that the

problem in respect of service of summons has been one of

the major causes of delay in the due progress of the case.

It is common knowledge that defendants have been

avoiding to accept summons. There have been serious

problems in process serving agencies in various courts. “

CONTROLLING OFFICERS

1. Under Rule 3 of Part A, Chapter 6 of High Court Rules and

Orders, Volume 4, Civil Judge (SD) at the Distt. HQ and Addl.

Civil Judge (SD) at the Sub Divisional HQ is the Controlling

authority of and responsible for efficiency of the Process

Serving Establishment except that of the Distt. Judge and the

Judge, Small Cause Court.

MINISTERIAL HEAD

2. Under Rule 4 ibid, Civil Nazir/Naib Nazir is the ministerial

head of the Process Serving Establishment under the control of

Civil Judge (SD) and Addl. Civil Judge (SD), as the case may

be. His main duty is to maintain the efficiency of the process

serving establishment and for this purposes he is required to submit

reports and make suggestions from time to time to the Civil Judge

(SD) or the Addl. Civil Judge (SD).

3. Apart from the Civil Nazir/ Naib Nazir at the head, process serving

agency consists of some bailiffs and process servers.

4. Bailiffs and Process Servers have to wear belts and badges as

required by Rule 8 of Chapter VIA of the High Court Rules and

Orders.

PROVISIONS

General provisions regarding service of summons in civil cases are

contained in Sections 27, 28, 29 and 143 and Order V Rules 9 to 30,

Order XXVII, Rule 4, Order XXIX, Rule 2, Order XLVIII, Rules 1, 2 &

3, Order III, Rules 3, 5 & 6, Order XXVIII, Rule 3, Order XXX, Rule 3,

Order XLI, Rule 14 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 and Chapter 7

of Volume IV of the High Court Rules and Orders. Provision for service

of summons on witnesses has been made in Order XVI, Rule 8 of the

Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 and in High Court Rules and Orders,

Volume I, Chapter 5 and is the same as in the case of defendants. As per

Order XLVIII, Rule 2 CPC, all orders and notices issued under the Code

are to be served in the manner provided for the service of summons.

Rule 1 Part A of Chapter 7 High Court Rules and Orders, Volume

IV stipulates that the provisions regarding the service of summons on the

parties, contained in sections 27, 28, 29 and 143, Order V, Rules 9 to 30,

Order XXVII, Rule 4, Order XXIX, Rule 2, Order XLVIII, Rules 1, 2 and

3, Order III, Rules 3,5 and 6, Order XXVIII, Rules 3, Order XXX, Rule

3, and Order XLI, Rule 14 of the Civil Procedure Code as amended by

the High Court should be strictly observed, as neglect of them may

often render the service ineffectual, especially when personal service

cannot be made.

Rules regarding service in particular cases are contained in Rule 2

of Part A of Chapter 7 High Court Rules and Orders, Volume IV.

The prescribed forms for the service of processes by process

servers are contained in Appendix B to Schedule I of the CPC and Part A-

I of the High Court Rules and Orders, Volume VI.

TYPES OF PROCESSES

5. i) Summons to defendants/respondents/accused(in criminal

complaints.)

ii) Summons to the witnesses.

iii) Warrants of arrest of witnesses in civil cases.

iv) Warrants of attachment of moveable/immoveable property

and salary etc.

v) Warrants of delivery of moveable/immoveable property in

execution proceedings.

REGISTERS

6. High Court Rules and Orders, Volume 6, Part A-IV provides

different registers to be maintained regarding service of processes

as under:-

1. REGISTER No. XXII – REGISTER OF WARRANTS

EXECUTED BY BAILIFFS

MONTH WARRANTS OF

ARREST

WARRANTS OF

ATTACHMENT

WARRANTS OF SALE REMARKS

Served unserved Executed Non-executed Executed Non-executed

2. Register No.XXIII is the Register of Processes served by

Process Servers. This register contains the following columns:-

Month Number

processes

entrusted

for

service

Number of

processes

served

according to

law and

returned

within time

Number of

processes

served

personally

Percentage

of personal

service

REMARKS

3. Register No.XXIX is the Register of Diaries of Process

Servers. This register contains the following columns:-

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Serial

TO BE FILLED AT THE TIME OF DEPARTURE

Date

which

the

proce

server

visite

d the

villag

Date of

Departur

The

number

processe

s to be

served

in each

village

or area

The

name

of the

village

or area

which

to be

served

The serial

No. of

in Ch.8-D,

H.C.R.O.Vo

l.II, at which

entered

Date

fixed for

service

processes

in the

village

Date

return

fixed

by the

Nazir

9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

TO BE FILLED AT THE VILLAGE VISITED

Signat

ure of

REMA

RKS

Travell

Distan

Numbe

r of

Man

ner

The

number

Signature

or thumb-

from

which

village

which

village

travell

proces

ses

served

and

time of

service

, i.e.,

mornin

g or

evenin

g etc.

servi

process

unserve

impression

of the

Lambardar

Chowkidar

or any

other

respectable

person of

the village

Nazir

Notes:

(1) Process servers might effect personal service on a date other

than the date mentioned in column 6 but before the date fixed

for the return of the process. They must however record

reasons for doing so in the remarks column.

(2) Processes received back unserved should be entrusted for

service again and again if the date of hearing fixed in the case

admits of it.

AFFIDAVITS OF PROCESS SERVER

7. Affidavit of Process server, Form Nos.6 and 7 – see separate pages.

APPENDIX I

Affidavit of Process server to accompany Return of a Summons or

Notice

(O.5, R. 18).

(Title)

The Affidavit of________ son of_______

I ------------- make oath/affirm and say as follows :-

(1) I am a process server of this Court.

(2) On the________ day of_______20 I received a summons/notice ------

--------- issued by the Court of in Suit No.----------- of 20 , in the

said Court, dated the---------day of 20 for service on----------

(3) The said---------- was at the time personally known to me and I served

summons/notice on him/her the said --------------------- on the----- day of

20 at about o’clock on the------- noon at----- by tendering a copy

thereof to him/her his summons ------------ and requiring his/her signature

to the original summons/notice

(a) (b)

(a) Here state whether the persons served signed or refused

to sign the process and in whose presence.

(b) Signature of process server. Or

(3) The said--------- not being personally known to me accompanied me

to------------------- and pointed out to me a person whom he stated to be

the said---------------------- and I served the summons/notice upon him/her

on the day of------- 20 notice her at about----------- o’clock in the-------

noon at---------- by tendering a copy thereof to him/her -------------- and

requiring his/her signature to the original summons/notice.

(a) (b)

(a) Here state whether the person served signed or refused to

sign the process and in whose presence.

(b) Signature of process server. or

(3) The said-------------- and his house in which he ordinarily resides

being personally known to me/pointed out to me by --------------------------

------------ I went to said house in---------- and there on the------ day of

20______at o’clock in the fore/ afternoon I did not find the said________

I enquired from neighbours (a) -------and (b)-------- I was told that--------

had gone to------- and would not be back till --------

Signature of process server,

If substituted service has been ordered, state fully and exactly the manner

in which the summons was served with special reference to the terms of

order for substituted service.

Sworn/ Affirmed by the said before me------------ this-------- day of 20.

Empowered under section 139 of the

Code of Civil Procedure to administer the

oath to deponents

8. Affidavit of the PS regarding service or refusal should mention the

names of the persons/witnesses present at the time of service/refusal. In

case of personal service, signatures/thumb marks of the defendant/witness

should be obtained in token of receipt of the summons (under Rule 16). If

he is personally known to the PS, this fact should be noted in the report of

the PS. If he has been identified by some person of the locality or

Lambardar/Patwari/school teacher or any other prominent person, the

signatures/thumb mark of the identifier should be obtained on the report

of the PS in token of identification. Under HC Rules & Orders, Vol. 4,

Chapter 7, Rule 1, Lambardar of the village is duty bound to assist the PS

in service of processes and, therefore, PS should be directed to associate

the concerned Lambardar while effecting service. In the case of service

of notice of sale, it is mandatory for the PS to associate the

Lambardar and get his report attested from him as also from the

village Patwari or the school master, wherever possible as per Rule 2

ibid.

DIFFERENT MODES OF SERVICE

9. Under Order V, different modes of service of summons have been

provided. The role of the process server is restricted to the modes of:-

(i) Service on the defendant in person or through authorized

agent empowered to accept service under Rule 12;

(ii) Service through Manager or agent, who at the time of

service, personally carries on the business or work of the

defendant under Rule 13;

(iii) Service on agent in charge in suits for immoveable

property under Rule 14;

(iv) Service on adult male or female member of the family

where the defendant is absent from his residence (and not

from his business), where service is sought to be effected at

his residence and there is no likelihood of his being found

at the residence within a reasonable time. (Reasonable

time depends on the particular facts of the case. All

possible inquiries should be made to find out as to when

he is likely to return to his residence and in the process

server’s affidavit, facts must be stated to show what

enquiries were made and whether it was found

reasonable under the circumstances to assume that the

defendant could not be found at his residence within

reasonable time). A servant is not a member of the

family, under Rule 15;

(v) Service by affixation on a conspicuous part of his ordinary

residence or ordinary place of residence is permissible

under Rule 17, where the defendant, his agent or adult

member of the family refuses to sign acknowledgement, or

where the defendant is absent from his residence and there

is no likelihood of his being found at his residence within a

reasonable time and there is no agent empowered to accept

service on his behalf. The report of the PS in this regard

should be supported by his affidavit.

HOW TO CONDUCT EFFECTIVE & PROPER SERVICE

AND TO AVOID DELAY AT THE SERVICE STAGE

9. Chapter 7B to 7F of Volume IV OF High Court Rules and Orders

contain detailed instructions regarding serving of processes. These must

be kept in view while giving training to the concerned members of the

Process Serving Agency. Rules contained in Order V of the CPC should

also be kept in view. The gist of these instructions is as under:

a) Attempt should be made primarily to effect personal

service and failing that on an agent / member of the

family. Repeated visits should be made by the process

servers for effecting service, if there is sufficient time

for the date of hearing;

b) The process server should obtain attestation of

witnesses on his reports of various attempts of service;

c) Service by affixation should not be done in a routine

manner but only after repeated attempts at personal

service have failed. As per Order 5 Rule 10 of the

CPC summons by registered post can be ordered.

Under Rule 20A of Order 5 of the CPC service by

registered post can be resorted to after the process has

been received back unserved for any reason

whatsoever.

d) Service by publication of the notice in the newspaper

should be effected as a last resort and not in the

ordinary course and that too in local newspaper where

the defendant resides or carries business and also by

keeping in mind that the defendant is literate and is

expected to read newspapers daily. This should be got

done in a newspaper approved by the High Court and

normally in a vernacular paper having circulation in

the area.

e) As per the Rules contained in Chapter 7-G of Volume

IV of the High Court Rules and Orders, it is the duty

of the Lambardars to assist the Process Servers in

serving processes in Civil and Criminal cases. In case

any Lambardar fails in this duty, the Judges should

bring the matter to the Collector who is the controlling

authority of the Lambardars and if still there is no

improvement, the matter, through proper channel, can

be brought to the notice of the High Court for further

action.

f) To check false reports being made by the Process

Servers, his report on the summons should be got

attested from the village Lambardar and village

Patwari and the school master, if possible.

10. DUTIES OF CIVIL NAZIR/ NAIB NAZIR, BAILIFFS

AND PROCESS SERVERS:

A. Civil Nazir: He is required to perform the following duties:

(i) Maintain civil deposit and repayment accounts;

(ii) Manage the business of execution of decrees;

(iii) Distribute the business amongst the process servers;

Obtain signatures of the process server in the receipt

three columns should exist, i.e. name of the process

server, date of entrustment and date of return (to

be within 7 days); ensure that the process is returned

by the aforesaid date; report default to the Officer-in-

charge of the process serving agency for suitable

disciplinary action against the PS; to check and sign

diary of the PS in Form No.XXIX to ensure that it is

property maintained.

(iv) Send processes to other agencies located at tehsils for

service;

(v) Send processes meant for service outside the

jurisdiction of the Sessions Division;

(vi) Manage accounts and correspondence regarding

payment of diet money to the witnesses etc.

(vi) Examine Register No.XXIII (Processes served by

each Peon), and note whether the distribution of work

is fair. Are any of the process-servers employed on

other than their legitimate duties? (Page 392 Chapter

2-B of Punjab High Court Rules and orders Vol. 4).

(vii) To check that the process:-

a) bears the name of the issuing Court;

b) bears the name and address of the

defendant/opposite party/witness upon

whom the process is to be served;

c) bears the stamp and signatures of the

court/authorized official of the court;

d) is accompanied by the copy of the

plaint/complaint and other documents

mentioned in the process;

e) Warrant of possession contains full

description of the property in dispute and

copy of the site plan of the property is

attached with it.

The Nazir/Naib Nazir should return the incomplete/deficient

process to the Court concerned and get it rectified. For

entrustment of a defective process to the Bailiff/process

server, Nazir/Naib Nazir is responsible and liable for

disciplinary action.

B. Bailiff: Duty of the bailiff is ordinarily to execute the

warrants of attachment, arrest and delivery of possession etc.

However this duty can also be entrusted to the process

servers with the permission of officer-in-charge of the

Process Serving Agency. Rules regarding exaction of

warrants of sale by the process servers are contained in Rule

24 (iv) of Chapter 12 –L, Volume I of the High Court Rules

and Orders.

C. Process Server: Under Rule 4 of Chapter VIB of Volume

IV of the High Court Rules and Orders the main work of the

process servers is to serve and execute the processes.

However, they can be required to perform any other public

duty assigned to them by their controlling officer.

SURVEILLANCE OF PROCESS SERVERS

11. Diaries of process servers should be regularly checked and action

should be taken against them if they are negligent in giving the prescribed

percentage of personal service. Other relevant registers should also be

regularly and thoroughly checked.

12. Return of processes by the process server in time should be

closely monitored and action against the delinquent taken as per rules.

13. Service should be effected within a reasonable time prior to the

date fixed. Service affected one day prior to date fixed would mean it has

been effected mechanically by sitting in the office, either through

telephone/SMS or through some other messenger.

14. It is being observed that while effecting service through

phone/SMS/other messenger, copies of the plaint and relevant documents

are not supplied to the defendant/respondent and if the

defendant/respondent refuses to accept service without documents, he is

threatened that adverse report shall be made against him.

RULES REGARDING APPOINTMENT OF PROCESS

SERVERS

15. As per Rule 2 of Chapter VIA of volume IV of the High Court

Rules and Orders, process serving establishments are appointed and dealt

with in accordance with the Rules given in Chapter 18A of Volume I of

the said Rules and Orders. Different set of appointment rules for Punjab,

Haryana and UT Process Serving Establishment known as (i) (a) The

Punjab Subordinate Courts Establishment (Recruitment and General

Condition of Service) Rules 1997; (b)The Punjab Subordinate Courts

Establishment (Recruitment and General Conditions of Service) Group

'D' Service Rules, 2012; (iii) Haryana Subordinate Courts Establishment

(Recruitment and General Condition of Service) Rules,1997 and (iii)

Chandigarh Union Territory Subordinate Courts Establishment

(Recruitment and General Condition of Service) Rules, 1997, have been

framed.

RULES REGARDING WORKING STRENGTH OF

PROCESS SERVING AGENCY

17. Rules regarding the working strength of a Process Serving Agency

have been made by the High Court with the approval of the Punjab

Government under the powers conferred by Section 22 of the Court Fees

Act, 1870 and are contained in Chapter VI-C of Volume IV.

SCALE OF PROCESS FEE

18. The scale of process fee is detailed in Chapter 5 of High Court

Rules and Orders Volume IV and is amended from time to time.

19. COST OF POSTAGE AND REGISTRATION ON

PROCESSES FORWARDED BY POST, HOW TO BE

DEFRAYED

Rules regarding cost of postage and registration on processes

forwarded by post are contained in Chapter 7-H of the High

Court Rules and Orders, Volume IV.

These rules are now being amended and

Final Draft Rules have been framed. The amended Rules are

now contained in Chapter VI of Volume IV. As per Rule 5 of

Chapter VI of Volume IV, process fee for the service of

processes including summons, notices or other process shall be

levied at the rate of 50/- in each civil/criminal/revenue case at

the time of institution. This fee will not include the charges

for registered post cover or substituted service by beat of

drum or publication in a newspaper, which charges shall be

paid in addition to the process fee. In appropriate case, the

Court may also ask for additional fee to the extent of `25/- for

any miscellaneous application filed during the pendency of the

case.

20. POLICE ASSISTANCE FOR EXECUTION OF WARRANTS

ETC. IN EXECUTION CASES

Following is the procedure, as contained in Chapter 7-J of the

High Court Rules and Orders, Volume IV, for rendering police

assistance to the Civil Courts in the execution of warrants of

arrest and distress or of warrants for the delivery of possession

of immovable property:

‘The Civil Judge may seek police assistance

through the District Judge or Civil Judge (Senior

Division), whosoever is available at the station, from the

Commissioner of Police/Superintendent of Police in

execution of the decree, on being satisfied that the

resistance or obstruction was occasioned without any

just cause by the judgment-debtor or by some other

person at his instigation or on his behalf, or by any

transferee, where such transfer was made during the

pendency of the suit or execution proceedings.’

21. PLAINTIFF MAY BE REQUIRED TO FILE SUMMONS

FOR THE SERVICE OF THE DEFENDANT

As per sub rule I-A inserted by amendment by the Punjab and

Haryana High Court to Rule 9 of Order VII of the CPC, the plaintiff is

required, within the time to be fixed by the Court, to file summons in the

prescribed form in duplicate, after duly filling in the same, for each of the

defendants and pay the requisite fee for the service thereof on the

defendants. Punjab (26.02.1982), Haryana (16.02.1982) and Chandigarh

(01.04.1982).

22. PROCESSES IN CRIMINAL CASES

Rules regarding issue and service of summons are contained in

Chapter 8 of the High Court Rules and Orders, Volume IV. Summons in

cases not cognizable by the Police are to be got served through the

civil process serving agency attached to the courts.

Rule 6 Chapter 8-A of the High Court Rules and Orders, Volume

IV contains detailed instructions of the manner in which (i) Govt.

servants generally, (ii) Bodies corporate, (iii) Soldiers in Military

employ, (iv) Railway officials, (v) Police officers, (vi) Medical officers

and some others, are to be served. These instructions need to be brought

to the notice of the concerned Ahlmads and process servers/serving

officers of the police for their guidance and strict observance.

Chapter 8-B of the High Court Rules and Orders, Volume IV

contains detailed Rules and instructions regarding preparation and issue

of warrants of arrest and other processes, which need to be brought to the

pointed notice of the concerned Ahlmads and process servers/serving

officers of the police for their guidance and strict observance.

Chapter 8-C of the High Court Rules and Orders, Volume IV

contains the rules regarding attendance as witnesses and evidence of

persons residing beyond the limits of India. Briefly stated these rules say

that issuance of warrants of arrest against witnesses and persons residing

outside India is illegal.

As regards the form and contents of warrants generally, rules in

Chapter 8C say that the warrant should be in the relevant form of the

second schedule of the Cr.P.C. It should contain the name, location and

the District of the court and other particulars of the case and the offences

involved in the case. The warrant should also contain the name, father’s

name, nationality and residence of the person to be arrested. It should

also contain the name and legible signatures of the presiding officer and

should bear the seal of the court. The officer/person who is to execute the

warrant must be specified on it. The next date in the case and the date by

which the warrant is to be returned, must be specified. Long date should

not be given for return/execution of the warrant. The warrant should be

duly entered in the relevant register of warrants maintained in the court.

When a warrant is cancelled, this fact should be recorded in the court file

and the said register and the copy of the order should be sent to the

officer/person to whom the warrant was sent for execution with the

direction to return it unexecuted.

Appendix to Chapter 8C contains the list of Northern Railway

Officers to whom summons is to be sent for service upon the staff

employed under them.

23. FINANCIAL AND ACCOUNTING DUTIES

SHERRIF’S PETTY ACCOUNT

Rules regarding Sherrifs’ Petty Account are contained in

Chapter 8-D of High Court Rules and Orders Volume 2.

At district headquarters, the Sheriff's Petty Account is maintained

in the court of Civil Judge (Senior Division) and at Tehsil Headquarters,

by the Additional Civil Judge (Senior Division). In this account the sums

deposited by parties, as the expenses of witnesses, fees of expert

witnesses and commission fee in civil, criminal and revenue cases and

deposit of charges of news papers in cases of substituted services, sum

deposited for immediate disbursement as costs in partition

cases(revenue), sums deposited as costs in connection with application

for Probate, Letter of Administration and Successions Certificate, other

than the cost of stamps deposited by applicants under Acts XXXIX of

1925 and all petty items received for immediate disbursement in full

except when they are deposited in courts following the cash system for

Civil Court Deposits are received.

The following registers are maintained/used in Sheriff's Petty Account:

1. Register of receipts (Register A)

2. Register of Disbursement (Register B)

3. Cash book (Register C)

4. Treasury pass book.

5. Receipt form

6. Register of process including warrants etc., received from other

Tehsils or Districts with or without diet money

7. Note book of process server.

8. Payment order form.

9. Challan form

10. Check Form

11. Form 29 Civil Code Vol. 1.

12. Form 30 Civil Account Code Vol. 1.

13. Stock book of forms of Receipt Books/cheque books.

14. Intermediate register of money orders etc.

(The proforma of the registers are given in the end of Part D,

Chapter 8, Volume II High Court Rules and Orders).

Whenever a party makes an application for deposit of the amounts

stated above, the Reader of the Court is to enter the case No. and date of

institution on the application and court shall pass order for depositing the

amount. Then this application along with money shall be produced to the

Civil Nazir or Naib Nazir who is dealing with the Sheriff Petty Account.

After receiving the amount shall make entry in the Register of Receipts

and shall issue receipt in form No.5. The concerned Nazir shall send the

application to the Ahlmad of the court concerned. The progressive totals

of daily receipt should be made beneath the daily total and continued till

the end of the month.

From the monthly progressive total, the total payment as per the

“Register of Disbursements” is to be deducted to arrive at the net

balances at the end of each month, which should be carried forward from

month to month to work out the progressive net balance at the end of the

year. This balance should agree with the total of balances appearing in

the treasury and cash columns in the cash book. The balance for each

month going back to the back three financial years should be worked out

separately from the “Register of Receipt” and the total of the items thus

worked out proved with the balance in the “Cash Book”

PROGRESSIVE TOTALS OF PAYMENTS

The “Register of Disbursements” is to be completed and should be

confined to a daily record of payments to entitled payees. The daily

entries should be totaled up and the progressive totals of daily payments

should also be made beneath the daily total till the end of the month.

CASH BOOK-REGISTER C

The daily total of receipts in the” Register of Receipts” and all payments

in the “Register of payments” should be carried to the “Cash book”. In

the cash column the closing balance of the previous month st being noted

as opening balance of the next month on the 1 day of that month.

Payments into and withdrawal from the treasury should be accounted for

in this “Cash Book” in the manner described under:-

ENTRIES IN CASH BOOK OF PAYMENTS INTO AND

WITHDRAWALS FROM TREASURY

When the amount is paid into the Treasury an entry should be made on

the payment side in the column “Cash” and a per contra entry should be

made on the receipt side in the column “Treasury”. Similarly, when

money is drawn from the Treasury an entry should be made on the

payment side in the column “Treasury” and a per contra entry should be

made on the receipt side in the column “Cash”. Progressive balance on

each day should be struck under the signatures of the “Officer-in-Charge”

COMPARISON OF CASH BOOK WITH TREASURY PASSBOOK

At the close of the month, there will be no cash balance in the hands of

the Nazir. The balance with Treasury (as per Treasury Column) cashbook

should be worked out and agreed with the balance as shown in the

Treasury Pass Book.

DUTIES OF THE OFFICER-IN-CHARGE

The principal financial duties of the officer –in-charge of the agency are:

(i) to see that all sums received are brought to account in the

“Register of Receipts”,

(ii) to see that no payments are made except against deposits shown

in the “Register of Receipts.”

(iii) to verify the balance by frequent physical verification of the

cash balance in the agency and by comparison of the treasury

balance in the “Cash Book” of the agency with that shown in

the “Treasury Pass Book”; and

(iv) to see that remittances into and withdrawals from the Treasury

when required are promptly and correctly made.

If the duties are properly carried out there is no risk or defalcation and

clerical error in the accounts should be immediately detected.

PERSONAL LEDGER ACCOUNT OF THE TREASURY

In respect of the balances remitted thereto the Treasury maintains a

Personal Ledger Account in the name of the agency concerned.

PROPER FORMS AND REGISTERS TO BE MAINTAINED

No books of account, other than those prescribed, can be maintained and

no change can be made in the existing forms of the registers without the

sanction of the High Court in consultation with the Accountant General.

MONEY ORDERS INTERMEDIATE REGISTER

Whenever the money is received in the court by Money Order, the Nazir

has to enter particulars to identify the transaction in the “Courts's

Intermediate Register”. The officer in charge of the agency or in his

absence another judicial officer, empowered in this behalf by the District

Judge, will then both initial the “Intermediate Register” in respect of the

transaction and sign the money order receipt before handing over the

receipt to the Postman and money with the money order coupon to the

Nazir for further disposal. Such an officer must see that all items in the

“Intermediate Register” are cleared by transfer entry to the 48

appropriate” Register of Receipt” on the day of receipt, if possible, or the

next morning and initial both the “ Intermediate Register” and the

“Register of Receipt” in verification of this having been done by the

Nazir.

AGENCIES MAINTAINING SHERIFF'S PETTY ACCOUNT

There are 2 classes of agencies, which are required to maintain the

Sheriff's Petty Accounts. The office maintaining accounts is usually

known as the Nazarat. The classes are as under:

(i) The principal process-serving agency at the headquarters

of a district. This deals with process received from Civil,

Revenue and Criminal Courts. This agency is under the

control of the Civil Judge (Sr. Divn.). It is referred to as

Civil Judge (Sr. Divn) Agency.

(ii) Agencies at outlying stations is in the charge of

Additional Civil Judge (Sr. Divn.)

The agency of the Civil Judge (Sr. Divn) is in the subordinate charge of a

Naib Nazir / Civil Nazir who receives cash and make payments. In

outlying stations these are performed by a Naib Nazir or a Madad Naib

Nazir.

CONTROL OVER AGENCIES AND DELEGATION OF DUTIES

The Civil Judge Sr. Divn. is responsible for general control of all

agencies other than those of a district court or a small cause court.. The

Civil Judge (SD), under special permission of the High Court, may

delegate certain of his administrative duties to another subordinate judge.

The order of delegation will state exactly what duties have been

delegated in that case; however, he will still remain responsible for

general supervision. District Judges and officers in charge of outlying

agencies, in no case, delegate their duties under the rules.

SECURITY

Nazirs are responsible in the first instance for the proper up-keep of the

accounts for the security of the cash in their hand. Security is required to

be deposited by them and by certain other members of the process

serving establishment as laid down in Chapter XVIII-E, Rules and Orders

Vol .I, as under:

Civil Nazirs (Civil Judge Sr. Division's Agency): Rs. 1000/-

Naib Nazir (Distt. Judges, Civil Judge (SD) other Rs. 200/-

Agencies including Subordinate Court's Judges

Naib Nazir (Civil judge, Sr. Division's Agency) Rs. 100/-

Naib Nazir, Madad Naib Nazir

Bailiff Rs. 50/-

Process Server Rs. 200/-

DUTIES OF CIVIL NAZIR

The Civil Nazir is also the head of the Process Serving Establishment of

the District other than that working directly under the District Judge or

the judge of a Small Cause Court. His duties are:

i) To submit reports relating to the members of the

establishment or their duties to the Civil judge Sr. Divn. ;

ii) To arrange for the distribution of processes amongst the

process servers and the transmission to the agencies

located at Tehsils;

iii) To see that the prescribed accounts are properly

maintained by the staff working under his immediate

control; and

iv) To prepare correspondence regarding the payment of diet

money of witnesses and other similar matters.

RECEIPTS OF PROCESSES AND DEPOSITS BY THE

AGENCIES - APPLICATIONS FOR DEPOSIT HOW TO BE

DEALT WITH:

When an application involving a deposit in a Sheriff's Petty

Account is presented in the court, as for example, an application for

summoning of witnesses to whom diet money is to be paid, the court

Reader shall note thereon the number of case, in order to enable Nazir to

make the necessary entry in the “Register of Receipts”. After the usual

orders have been passed and recorded by the court, the applicant shall

tender the amount of deposit together with the application to the Nazir

who will fill in column 1 to 7 of the “Register of Receipts”, prepare a

“Receipt”, in foil and counter foil on the prescribed form and issue the

foil to the depositor as receipt for money deposited after it is signed by

the officer in charge.

If the application is for summoning of a Govt. servant as witness it must

state:

i) His full official designation;

ii) The amount deposited for traveling expenses

iii) The amount deposited for diet money or subsistence

allowance.

These details must be entered in the “Register of Receipts”.

The application should then be returned to the court concerned, after the

usual daily checks have been made by the officer-in-charge.

PROCESSES FOR SERVICE WITHIN THE DISTRICT TO BE SENT TO

LOCAL AGENT (NAZIR)

All processes, issued by courts for service within the district, will be sent

to the Nazir which should contain a reference to the amount deposited

and the number of deposit.

PROCESS FOR SERVICE IN ANOTHER DISTRICT

Processes issued by a court for service in another district will be made

over to the Nazir of a court of Civil Judge (SD) or Nazir of the court of

Additional Civil Judge (SD) at Tehsil headquarters by the issuing court

for entry in the register in Form No. 6 and for transmission to the Civil

Judge Sr. Divn. Of the district in which the person to be served resides.

The amount deposited with the Nazir concerned on account of

subsistence and other expenses as noted on the summons will be

transmitted by the Nazir by postal money order to the Civil Judge Sr.

Divn. or the Administrative Subordinate Judge in the district or

Additional Civil Judge (SD) at Tehsil Headquarter in which the service is

to be effected, the cost of postal money order, being borne by the party at

whose instance the process is issued.. The Civil Judge Sr. Divn.,

Additional Civil Judge (SD) of such other district, shall, in the event of

the process not being served, return the amount by postal money order

less cost of commission on such money order.

STEPS TO GET BACK THE MONEY IF THE PROCESS IS NOT SERVED

Courts issuing processes to other districts should take measures to call for

the prompt return of the money remitted on account of processes, which

have not been served, and such sums, after being accounted for in the

accounts of the Nazir in the usual way should be returned to the persons

taking out the process and excluded from the cost of the suit.

SERVICE OF PROCESSES

Processes issued by a court at the headquarters of the District or a Tehsil,

for service on a person, residing within their jurisdiction, will be made

over to the in charge of the process serving agency who will, thereupon,

arrange for payment at the time of service, of sums due to person to

whom the processes are addressed.

PROCEDURE WHEN PROCESSES AND MONEY ARE DELIVERED TO

PROCESS-SERVER

The sums, as entered on the processes, will be given to the process server

together with the processes and while doing so the following procedure is

to be adopted by the process serving agency:

(i) Each process should be entered in the” “Register of Processes

received and disposed of by the Nazir”,

(ii) Payment to process-server should be entered in the appropriate

column of the “Register of Receipts” against each sum,

(iii) Payment entries should be made in the “ Register of

Disbursements” and the process-server's 50 acknowledgement

of receipt in column 1,

(iv) Details of each sum should be entered in the “Process –server's

Note-book.”

NO PROCESS SERVER SHOULD HAVE MORE THAN RS. 60/- IN HAND

AT ANY ONE TIME

When a process server pays diet money to any witness or pays Munadi

fee, he shall take the receipt of the actual payee in column 8 of his note

book as well as on the back of the original copy of the process on which

service is endorsed. The payee's acknowledgement will be verified by

one or more respectable witnesses, the date and signature of the serving

officer will be added. To minimize the risk of misappropriation, the court

concerned should ascertain, before proceeding with the case, that the

witnesses appearing before them are the persons whom the diet money

was actually paid.

PROCEDURE WHEN PROCESSES ARE RETURNED SERVED BY THE

PROCESS SERVER

The processes whether served or un-served will be returned to the Nazir.

If the service is effected and money paid to the payee, the Nazir shall

verify the service with the acknowledgement of the payee given in

column no. 8 of the Processes Server's note book as well as on the back

of the original copy of the process and submit the same to the court

concerned with the usual certificate of service, at the same time filling up

column 12 and 13 of the “Register of Processes received and Disposed of

by the Nazir”.

PROCEDURE WHEN PROCESSES ARE RETURNED UN-SERVED BY THE

PROCESS SERVER

In the case of non-service of processes, the un-disbursed amount

returned by the process server shall again be entered against a new

number in the” Register of Receipts”. The new number in the “Register

of Receipts” will be quoted against the original entry in the “Register of

Disbursements” and noted in column 10 of the “Process Server Note

book”, column 1 of which should also be signed by Nazir in

acknowledgement of money having been received back from the Process

Server. The processes shall then be returned to the court concerned with a

certificate of non-service after filling the columns 12 and 13 of the

“Register of processes received and disposed of by the Nazir”.

CHECKING OF PROCESS SERVER'S NOTE BOOK

The process server note book in the court of Civil Judge Sr. Divn. and

Small Cause Court will be checked by the COC monthly and all these

note books shall also be checked quarterly by the officer in charge and

monthly by the Presiding Officers of the courts at Tehsil headquarters.

The following certificates shall be recorded by the Presiding Officers on

the note books.

“Certified that I have personally checked the accounts for the

month of /quarter ending ______________ and am satisfied that

they are correct and in order”.

When un-served processes are returned to the Nazir, it shall be his duty to

see that un-disbursed diet money, remitted with the processes, is also

returned to him and entered in the “Register of Receipts”.

PROCESSES SENT BY ONE NAZIR TO THE OTHER IN THE SAME

DISTRICT

Processes issued by a court, situated within the limits of one Tehsil

(whether it be the headquarter Tehsil or an outlying Tehsil) for service on

a person residing within the limit of another Tehsil in the district will be

made over to the Nazir at the place where the court issuing the process

sits and such Nazir will transmit the process (duly endorsed with the

amount, if any, which is to accompany the process) by post or (where

absolutely necessary) by messenger to the Nazir of the Tehsil within

which service is to be effected, after making the necessary entries in

columns 1 to 11 of the “ Register of Processes received and disposed off”

by the Nazir.

Processes received by one agency from another in the same district will

invariably be returned direct to the them from whom they are received

and he will return them to the court concerned.

AMOUNT TO BE SENT BY MONEY ORDER

The amount to accompany a process, as noted above, after making the

usual entries in the “Register of Receipts” and the “Register of

Disbursements”, will be sent by postal money order to the Nazir

concerned along with the process, the money order commission being

recovered from the party at whose instance the process is issued and the

money order being addressed to the officer-in-charge of the agency in

which the processes are to be served. The said officer-in-charge shall take

delivery of the money order under his own signatures and in the manner

referred to in para “Money order intermediate register” stated above and

he shall also see that the amount is transferred from the “Intermediate

or the next morning. The Nazir, after carrying out the procedure noted

above, shall cause the processes to be served and the amount disbursed to

the payee in the same manner as if the process had been issued by one of

the court of his own station.

The officer in charge of the receiving court must satisfy himself that all

amounts accompanying the process have been brought on in the

“Register of Receipts”

The processes received from other Tehsils shall be entered in the relevant

PROCEDURE FOR RETURN OF MONEY IN CASE OF NON-SERVICE OF

THE PROCESSES

In case of non-service of the processes, the amount (less money order

commission) will be returned by postal money order to the officer in

charge of the court from whom it was received. The said officer shall

take delivery of the money in accordance with the procedure laid down

above for the receipt of money order on the day of receipt, if possible or

on the next morning; such amount will be entered by the Nazir against

the new number in the “Register of Receipts” which number would also

be quoted against the original entry in the “Register of Disbursements”.

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE OR NON-SERVICE

The Nazir, to whom the process is sent for service will invariably return

the same, with a certificate of service or non service, as the case may be,

duly endorsed thereon and signed by the officer in charge to the agent

from whom he received the process, and the latter will thereupon fill in

the relevant column of register Form No.6 and then forward the process

to the court which issued it.

REFUND OF DEPOSITS

Any un-disbursed balance of deposit will be paid to the depositor when

he claims a refund. In such cases and in all other cases in which un-

disbursed money has been ordered by the Court to be paid to the proper

person, the court shall issue a payment order in the prescribed form to the

Nazir who, after taking the payees acknowledgement in the space

provided for the purpose and making necessary entries in the” Register of

Receipts” and the “Register of Disbursements” will pay the amount due.

The number will be quoted on the top of the payment order which will be

the serial number of the transaction in the” Register of Disbursements”

by the Nazir concerned.

In all the decided cases in which the diet money of the witness was

deposited and is lying un-disbursed, the Reader of the Court will issue a

payment voucher in the prescribed proforma in the name of the depositor

and will send the same to Nazir who shall remit the amount to the

depositor through money order. The un-disbursed diet money is to be

refunded to the depositor and not to counsel for the depositor in any

case.

Before the record of a decided case is consigned to the Record Room the

Reader of the Court will attach to it a certificate that un-disbursed deposit

of diet money payable to witnesses has, in all cases, where necessary,

been refunded to the depositors. The Record Keeper will not receive the

record unless this certificate is attached. This condition is also applicable

towards deposit of advertisement charges of newspaper in cases of

substituted services.

Renewal of payment order

The court's payment orders remain in force for a period of one month

only and in no case payment will be made to any person on a lapsed

order unless it is renewed. On the production of a lapsed payment 52

order, the authority which originally granted it may, if satisfied that the

person producing the same is entitled to receive payment, will revalidate

the order as follows:

Renewed.

Signature of the officer

Date

The fact and date of renewal will be quoted in the departmental record of

the court.

DAILY SUPERVISION OF ACCOUNTS

At the end of the day, the officer in charge of the agency shall compare

the entries made in the “Register of Receipts” with the application and

counterfoils of the receipts issued and, after satisfying himself of their

correctness, will put his initials against each entry in column 8 of the

“Register of Receipts.”

All entries of receipts in “Register of Receipts” and of payments in

“Register of Disbursements” and in the payment column of “Register of

Receipts” will be duly attested by the officer in charge of the agency on

the day of transaction before the close of the business. If, however, he is

absent, he should, within a week of his return, check the accounts and

forward a certificate to the District Judge that he has carefully scrutinized

the records of all monetary transactions which took place in his absence

and has satisfied himself that they have all been brought to account and

that no irregularities have been committed. Payee's receipts, received

through the Post Office for amounts sent by money order, should be

pasted in a guard file and a reference to their number in the guard file will

be inserted in column No.1 of the “Register of Disbursements”.

Similarly, coupons of money order receipts will be pasted in a separate

guard file and a reference to their number in the guard file, inserted in

column no. 6of the “Register of Receipts”.

DEALING WITH TREASURY

Whenever, during the month, the sum in the hand of Nazir at the district

headquarter is Rs. 20,000/- or more and that at Sub Division, Rs. 10,000/-

or more, thus surplus amount respectively will at once be remitted to

Treasury or Sub Treasury. A memorandum in the form given below will

accompany each such remittance and the treasury passes book and the

challan, which will be returned to the Nazir, duly receipted, by the

treasury/bank.

(i) Balance in hand, if any.

(ii) Withdrawal from Treasury since last remittance.

(iii) Deposits received since last remittance.

(iv) Total.

(v) Payments made since last remittance.

(vi) Balance

(vii) Amount now remitted to the treasury.

(viii) Balance in hand

At the end of the month the entire amount in the hands of Nazir will also

be remitted to the Treasury/Bank.

WITHDRAWALS FROM THE TREASURY

In the rare case, when the balance in the hands of Nazir, falls below the

amount required for immediate disbursement, he will recoup himself by

means of a cheque on the treasury to be signed by the officer in charge

after he has satisfied himself by personal inspection of the accounts that

the withdrawal is necessary. The cheque will be sent to the Treasury

along with Treasury passbook, which will be returned to the agency after

noting the withdrawal, duly attested by the Treasury Officer.

Neither the balance paid into the Treasury nor the amount withdrawn

there from will be shown in the “Register of Receipts” and the “ Register

of Disbursements”. These remittances and withdrawals will be shown

only in the cashbook, as their effect is to deplete or increase the amount

in the hands of Nazir.

This is the principal duty of the officer in charge to see that the money is

promptly remitted in the Treasury whenever the amount in the hands of

Nazir exceeds the permissible limit and that no unnecessary withdrawals

are made, and also to watch that the balance in the hands of Nazir on the

last working day of 53 the month is remitted to the Treasury so that it

may be included in the accounts of the Treasury on that day. The monthly

balancing of the accounts should show at a glance whether the Nazir has

remitted to the Treasury the amount which is supposed to have been sent

and it is also necessary for the officer in charge to satisfy himself that the

remittances have been promptly made by the reference to the treasury

receipts which should be filed in a separate guard file.

TREASURY ACCOUNT

The treasury is required to maintain a Personal Ledger Account in form

44 Civil Account Code, in the name of each agency dealing with it and to

supply the Court with a pass book. The Court is to send the pass book

monthly to the Treasury Officer for verification of the balance shown in

it.

On each occasion, when a remittance is made to the treasury, the gross

receipt and gross payments noted in the memorandum, will be entered in

the receipt and payments column, respectively in the Personal Ledger

account and the amount actually credited to the Treasury added to the

previous balance to arrive at the progressive balance to be shown in

column 5 thereof. The amount remaining in the hands of Nazir, at the

time of each remittance, will be noted down in the remarks column. In

addition to being entered in the Ledger Account the gross receipt and

gross payments shall be carried to the receipt and payment side of the

cashbook against the head “Sheriff’s Petty Account”.

In the case of payments taken from Treasury through cheque, the

progressive balance as shown in column 5 shall be reduced and the

amount noted in the remarks column (as amount in the hands of Nazir).

RECONCILING DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE BALANCES AS SHOWN

IN THE TREASURY AND BALANCE SHEET OF THE AGENCY.

To reconcile the discrepancies, the amount remaining in the hands of

Nazir will be shown separately as under:

i) In the remarks column of the Personal Ledger Account,

ii) In the Nazir's daily balance sheet, the entry in the last being

on the same principle as entry of a Sub Treasury balance.

The Treasury shall continue to show these balances in the balance sheet

until the entry is cancelled by a corresponding credit at the treasury at the

end of the month.

DEDUCTION OF LAPSED DEPOSITS

In addition to the gross receipts and gross payments the other entry in the

treasury account will be the annual deduction of lapsed deposits reported

by the Nazir, the adjustment of which shall be made in the office of the

Accountant General by credit to head “XLVI-Miscellaneous-Unclaimed

deposits”. The Treasury Officer will simply reduce the balance of

Personal Ledger Account.

MONTHLY VERIFICATION OF ACCOUNTS

On the last working day of the month the agency will proceed to compare

the balance shown in its own books with the balance shown in the

treasury pass book.

WORKING OUT BALANCE LIST OF UNREFUNDED LAPSED ITEMS

There will be three balances in the books of the court. One balance will

be struck at the end of the month in the “Register of Receipts” and will

show the total amount outstanding from all previous deposits, less the

amount which was lapsed to Govt. This balance will be made of one of

two other balances. One will be balance in cash with the Nazir, as shown

in the Cash Book and the other will be the balance of remittance to the

Treasury as shown in the passbook. The comparison of balances in the

cash book shall be made at the end of each month with the balance shown

in the “Register of Receipts” as under; -

Opening balance

Receipt for the month as per “Register of Receipts”

Total

Payments for the month, as shown in the “ Register of

Disbursements”(plus lapsed item which will appear in March only.

Closing balance

Details

Balance as per Treasury “Pass Book”

Balance in the hands of Nazir as per “ Cash Book”(which should

be remitted to the Treasury after verification on the last day of the

month.

Total

At the end of each month, the officer in charge of the court, dealing with

SPA should also prepare a list of un-refunded deposits not lapsed to govt.

working upto the balance (including the treasury balance). The balance

for each month, going back to 3 complete financial years should be

worked out separately from the “Register of Receipts” and proved with

the balance with the balance at the end of the month a depicted by the

“Cash Book”.

PHYSICAL VERIFICATION OF BALANCE IN THE HANDS OF NAZIR

The balance in the hands of Nazir should be physically verified by the

officer in charge who should record a note certifying:

“I have myself today counted the cash in the hand of Nazir

under the head” Sheriff's Petty Account” and find that the

cash amount of Rs. _____________as shown in the cash

book, is with the Nazir”.

This verification should not only be made monthly but surprise

inspections may also be made at frequent intervals in order to ensure that

the Nazir is not using the balance for other purposes during the middle of

the month. Inspecting Officer should also check the cash balance by

physical verification.

MONTHLY COMPARISON OF NAZIR'S BALANCE WITH TREASURY

PASSBOOK

The balance should be checked by the officer in charge with the “treasury

pass book” at the beginning of each month and he should record a

certificate to the effect that:

“ I have today compared the treasury balance as shown

in the books with the Nazir with the balance in the “

treasury pass book” and I find that they agree.”

If any discrepancy is found in the accounts the officer in charge should

take immediate steps to have the accounts reconciled and to see that no

error has crept in. If the account cannot be reconciled at the middle of the

month following that to which the balance relates, the discrepancy must

be at once reported to the District Judge who will personally take steps to

have the discrepancy reconciled. If the District Judge cannot do this by

the end of the month, a report will must be sent to the Hon'ble High Court

and the Accountant General.

DIFFICULTIES IN THE WORKING OF ACCOUNTS TO BE REPORTED

TO THE HIGHER AUTHORITY

If the Nazarat Branch feels any difficulty, which may be found in the

working of accounts, the same should be reported to higher authorities

with the proposal for their removal by the branch

LAPSED DEPOSITS

Notwithstanding the provisions of Article 206 of Civil Account Code,

Vol. I and in partial modification thereof, all deposit items relating to

Sheriff's Petty Accounts, irrespective of their amounts shall remain

current for three complete account years and shall lapse to govt. at the

end of that period.

The officer in charge of branch shall prepare a statement of lapsed items

on form 29 Civil Accounts Code after the end of each financial year and

strike them off from the “Register of Receipts” on the last day of the

financial year by entering them in column 20 provided for the purpose,

the date of lapse being noted below the amount in red ink. The total

amount of lapsed items as per statement so prepared should agree with

the total of outstanding balances prior to three complete account years as

shown in the analyses of 55 the outstanding balances in the remarks

columns of the “Register of Receipts” (Vide Rule 3 under Section 1(1)

and as worked out in the memorandum prescribed in Rule 42 under

Section X. This statement should be submitted to the Treasury Officer in

the first week of next financial year. The officer in charge of the agency

shall record a certificate on the statement to the effect that “all amounts,

due to lapse to govt., have been included in the statement.” One copy of

the statement shall be kept by the court for audit by the Audit

Department.

The Treasury Officer shall reduce the balance of the “Personal Ledger

Account” by the total amount of lapsed items who shall forward the same

to the Accountant General.

Items so lapsed, if claimed, shall only be paid by the Treasury officer

after the necessary sanction of the Accountant General has been obtained

on form 30 of Civil Account Code.

Diet money (i.e. subsistence allowance) levied in accordance with rules)

deposited in these accounts under rule 9 in respect of servants of the govt.

appearing as witnesses in civil and criminal cases will not be paid to

them but will be credited in the treasury under the head” XXI-

Administration of Justice-Misc. fees and fines-Other items”. Similarly,

all sums deposited for traveling expenses in respect of these servants,

who are not entitled to receive such expenses from the court, will be

credited in the Treasury under the same head.

In the case of employees of the Central Govt. sums on account of Road

and Diet money will be deposited in the Treasury to the credit of

department concerned in the receipt schedule of the Central department.

In the case of Railway employees, the amount is creditable to the

accounts of Railway concerned under the head “Adjusting accounts with

Railway under provincial section of the accounts”. In each case, the

following particulars will be inserted in the challan:

1. Name of witness

2. Official designation.

3. Office in which employed

4. Name of court in which appeared.

5. Date of hearing. 6

6. Names of parties to the suit.

Sr.No. Classification of employees Head to which creditable

1. Employees of States other than Punjab

State

S. Remittance Interstate

Suspense A/C with state

2. Employees of H.P. Govt. S. Remittance Central HP

Govt. suspense A/C

3. Employees of Central Govt. under the

audit control of AGCR New Delhi.

S. Remittances. Adjusting A/C

between Central and Provincial

Govt. Account between Civil

and Civil A/C between AGCR

Punjab. III items adjustable by

AGCR.

4. Employees of Central Govt. under the

audit control of Accountant General,

Punjab

To the corresponding receipt

head of the central section of

A/C of the department of the

Central Govt. to which the

govt. servant belongs.

The Readers of the Court concerned should give timely information to

the Civil Nazir/Nazir that the statement of the servant of the govt.

appearing as witness has been duly recorded so that there may be no

avoidable delay in crediting the subsistence allowance into the Treasury.

As a further safeguard the Reader of the Court, before the record of

decided cases is consigned to the Record Room, attach to it a certificate

that the subsistence allowance of all servants of govt., who have appeared

as witness to the case, has been credited into the Treasury under the

relevant head. The Record Keeper will not receive any such record to

which this certificate has not been attached.

CUSTODY AND ISSUE OF CHECKING OF “RECEIPT BOOKS” AND

“CHEQUE BOOK”

“Receipt” books and “Cheque” books, on receipt by the office, should be

entered in the “Stock Book of Receipts” and Cheque books” and

remain in personal custody of the officer in charge who will issue the

same to the Nazir after accounting for such issue in the stock book. The

number of cheque and receipt forms in each book, when received, should

be cheeked and a certificate to this effect recorded on the cover of each

copy.

Each page of every Register and Book of Accounts should be paged and

sealed and an endorsement should be made at the end of such register or

book shown by the number of pages and signed by the officer in charge.

All registers of “Sheriff's Petty Account” and blank forms etc. should be

kept under lock and key.

29. FINANCIAL AND ACCOUNTING DUTIES OF NAZIR

Financial duties of Civil/Naib Nazir are enumerated in

Parts D & E of Chapter 8 of Volume II of High Court Rules

and Orders and some of them are:

a) Maintenance of the Sheriffs’ Petty Account;

Registers A(of receipts); B (of disbursements) and (Cash

Book).

b) The principal financial duties of the Officer-in charge of

an agency in brief are: -

(i) to see that no payments are made except against

deposits shown in the “Register of Receipts”.

(ii) to see that no payments are made except against

deposits shown in the “Register of Receipts”;

(iii) to verify the balance by frequent physical

verification of the cash balance in the agency

and by comparison of the treasury balance

shown in the “Cash Book” of the agency with

that shown in the “Treasury Pass Book”; and

(iv) to see that remittances into and withdrawals

from the Treasury when required are promptly

and correctly made. If these duties are properly

carried out, there should be no risk of

defalcation and any clerical error in the accounts

can be immediately detected.

REGISTERS

Sr. No.

Form/Register No.

Name of Register/ Form

Deposits.

Cash Book of Sheriff's Petty Account showing cash

balance in the hand of Nazir each day.

Treasury Pas Book for the Sheriff's Petty Accounts.

Receipt Book

from______Tehsil/District________ with/without diet

money or Munadi fee by the process-serving agency.

Note book of Process

Server attached to the Court

of___________.

Payment order on Sher

iff's Petty Account.

Statement of Lapsed Deposits of the________ Treasury

for the year ________20_____.

10.

Refund of Lapsed Deposits.

11.

Stock Book of Form OF Receipt book/cheque book. CCD

Registers.

12.

Note Book

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Execution Bailiff.

13.

System)

14.

Voucher (D.R.O.Form)

15.

Refund of Lapsed Deposits.

16.

Intermediate register of money orders etc. received in

the court of________.

17.

XXII

18.

XXIII

Servers

FINAL AMENDED DRAFT RULES

Note: These rules are yet to be implemented.

HIGH COURT RULES AND ORDERS VOLUME IV

Chapter-6

Process Fees

1. General

(i) A table of the fees chargeable on processes should be

exhibited in each Court in some conspicuous place.

(ii) The fees for processes in non-cognizable criminal

cases shall be `50/- payable at the time of institution of

the cases. Summons in such cases shall be served by

the Process Serving Establishment of the Judicial

Courts. In case of conviction in such case, the convict

may be directed to pay cost (including amount of

process fee) to the complainant.

(iii) Processes issued by Revenue Courts and Revenue

Officers are also to be served by Process Serving

Agency of the Judicial Courts. The control over

income from process fee for the same shall remain

with the High Court. The amount of process fees shall

be in accordance with the rules framed by the High

Court.

(iv) No process shall be prepared or issued until payment

of the proper process fee. A receipt shall be given by

the official receiving the process fee. The court fee

label of the process fee shall be immediately punched.

2. Particulars on the process

On every process issued by any Court, the following

particulars shall be recorded, namely:- (i) the name of the

process server deputed to serve or execute the same; (ii) the

period within which the process server is required to certify

service or execution; (iii) the amount of fee paid and (iii) the

date of return after service or execution. Such endorsements

shall be signed by the Civil Nazir or Naib Nazir or Bailiff.

3. Accounts to be maintained

An account of Court fee stamps realized as process

fee, of the number of process servers employed, of the cost

of establishment and of contingencies shall be kept for each

Process Serving Establishment. A statement giving

information on the above points should be submitted with

the annual civil reports.

4. No process fee in some criminal cases

No process fee shall be charged for serving or

executing processes on behalf of the prosecution in any

criminal proceedings instituted on Police Report or on

information presented or complaint made by a Public Officer

acting in his official capacity. The Government has declared

all Police Officers to be Public Officers for this purpose.

5. Process Fee for each Court

Process fee for the service of processes including

summons, notices or other process shall be levied at the rate

of 50/- in each civil/criminal/revenue case at the time of

institution. This fee will not include the charges for

registered post cover or substituted service by beat of drum

or publication in a newspaper, which charges shall be paid in

addition to the process fee. In appropriate case, the Court

may also ask for additional fee to the extent of `25/- for any

miscellaneous application filed during the pendency of the

case.

6. Separate process for each person

A separate process shall be issued for each person.

However, a combined warrant of attachment shall be issued

if it is desired to attach the property of more than one person

in the same village/city in one case.

7. Process issued by or sent to other Court

A process issued by any Court in India, Civil or

Criminal, shall be served free of charges by any other Court,

in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh, if it be certified on the

process that the proper fee has been levied under the rules

applicable to the Court issuing the process.

When any Court, Civil or Criminal, subordinate to this

High Court, transmits a process for service or execution to

any other Court, a certificate shall be endorsed on the

process that process fee chargeable under the rules has been

levied.

8. Travelling Allowance of Process Servers

Uptil now, Process Servers are required to travel on

foot for serving or executing the processes. In view of

changed circumstances, each Process Server should be paid

fixed Travelling Allowance of `500/- per month by

amending the relevant service rules. The amount should be

suitably revised periodically or with revision of pay scales.

Chapter 7

Process-Serving Establishment:

1. General:

There are separate service rules regulating the

recruitment and conditions of service of process-serving

establishment including process servers, bailiffs, Naib Nazirs

and Civil Nazirs, besides other staff of establishment of the

Subordinate Courts. The said rules also provide for the

number of posts and pay scales of various categories. The

said rules are available at the High Court website under the

Head ‘High Court Rules and Orders’.

2. Controlling authority:

Subject to general control of the District Judge, Civil

Judge (Senior Division) has control over the process-serving

establishment of the entire District (except that of the

District Judge) and is responsible for the efficiency thereof.

Subject thereto, Additional Civil Judge (Senior Division) at

Sub Divisional Headquarter has control over the process-

serving establishment of the Sub Division. Controlling

authority should pay special attention to personal service of

processes and should also frequently inspect the prescribed

so as to monitor their work.

3. Duties of Civil Nazirs:

(i) The Civil Nazir at District headquarter and Naib

Nazir at SubDivision is ministerial head of the process-

serving establishment under the control of the controlling

authority. His duty is to maintain the efficiency of process-

serving establishment and to submit 36 fortnightly or

monthly reports to the controlling authority regarding service

of processes by each process-server and bailiff.

(ii) The Civil Nazir is also to keep up the Civil

Deposit and Repayment Accounts and to manage the

business of execution of decrees. The controlling authority

may issue detailed instructions as to the duties to be

performed by the Civil Nazir. The Civil Nazir should also

devote his time to the distribution of business amongst

process-servers (subject to overall control of the controlling

authority), the transmission of processes to agencies located

at outstations for service, the management of the accounts

and correspondence regarding the payment of diet money to

witnesses, and other similar matters connected with process

serving system at outstations.

4. Belts and badges of bailiffs and process-servers.

Every Bailiff and Process Server shall be supplied

with the following equipment, the cost of which will be met

from the contingencies of the Court to which he is attached:

Bailiffs

(a) Brown leather Waist belt with cross strap

over left shoulder. Brass buckle combined

with badge prescribed by High Court to be

fixed to the Waist belt:

Maximum cost Rs. 500/-

with buckle and badge.

(b)Khaki drill haversack or other suitable bag:-

Maximum cost Rs. 300/-

Process-servers

(a) Brown leather belt with brass buckle

combined with badge prescribed by High

Court to be fixed to the belt.

Maximum cost Rs. 400/-

(b) Khaki drill haversack or other suitable bag:

Rs.300/-maximum cost.

Belts should last four years and badges and

buckles for an indefinite period.

Haversacks/bags should last two years. No

article will be replaced unless the controlling

authority certifies that it requires replacement.

All equipment will remain Government

property and should be inspected by the

controlling authority from time to time. Losses

will be made good by the concerned process

server or bailiff as the case may be.

5. Number of process servers:-

The maximum number of posts for process serving

establishment allowed to each District has been fixed by the

High Court and may be varied from time to time. Reference

for the variation may be made by District and Sessions Judge

to the High Court by giving necessary data of processes

issued and served month-wise during the preceding 12

months. Within the District, the District Judge may distribute

the process-servers for District head-quarters and various

Sub-Divisions in such manner as shall be most suitable for

the efficient and maximum service of processes.

6. Duty of process-servers.

The process-servers shall be employed mainly in the

work of serving processes, but they may be required to

perform any other public duties that may be assigned to

them.