CPC, 1908 · Part I · Summons & Discovery
Penalty for default
If a summoned person won’t attend, the court has teeth to compel them.
The bare Act
The Court may compel the attendance of any person to whom a summons has been issued under section 30 and for that purpose may—
(a) issue a warrant for his arrest;
(b) attach and sell his property;
(c) impose a fine upon him not exceeding five thousand rupees;
(d) order him to furnish security for his appearance and in default commit him to the civil prison.
How to read Section 32
§30 lets the court summon witnesses; §32 supplies the enforcement — the coercive measures to compel a defaulter to attend.
Only where a person summoned under §30 fails to obey — the court “may” use one or more measures (a discretion).
Arrest · attach & sell property · fine (≤ ₹5,000) · security, failing which civil prison.
The four coercive measures
How the court compels attendance
Issue a warrant for his arrest.
Attach and sell his property.
Impose a fine up to ₹5,000.
Order security; in default, civil prison.
Phrase by phrase
Connected rules & sections
The summons whose default §32 punishes.
Witnesses are the usual targets of §32’s measures.
Rules 10–12 — consequences of a witness’s non-attendance.
The cap in (c) rose from ₹500 to ₹5,000 by the 1976 Amendment.
The mode of detention referred to in (d).
The base on which §§30–32 build.