Detention and Release
Civil imprisonment for debt is capped and graduated: up to 3 months or 6 weeks by the size of the decree, none at all for small sums — and once released, no re-arrest (though the debt lives on).
How to read Section 58
This is the maximum period § 51(c) points to. Detention is capped — 3 months for larger decrees, 6 weeks for smaller ones.
Sub-section (1A) bars detention altogether where the decree does not exceed ₹2,000 — a tiny debt never lands a person in prison.
Release does not discharge the debt — but the debtor cannot be re-arrested under that decree. The arrest remedy is spent; the debt survives.
The bare Act
(1) Every person detained in the civil prison in execution of a decree shall be so detained,—
(a) where the decree is for the payment of a sum of money exceeding [five thousand rupees]1, 2, for a period not exceeding three months, and
3[(b) where the decree is for the payment of a sum of money exceeding two thousand rupees, but not exceeding five thousand rupees, for a period not exceeding six weeks.]
4(1A) For the removal of doubts, it is hereby declared that no order for detention of the judgment-debtor in civil prison in execution of a decree for the payment of money shall be made, where the total amount of the decree does not exceed [two thousand rupees]5.
(2) A judgment-debtor released from detention under this section shall not merely by reason of his release be discharged from his debt, but he shall not be liable to be re-arrested under the decree in execution of which he was detained in the civil prison.
1. Subs. by Act 104 of 1976, s. 22, for certain words (w.e.f. 1-2-1977).
2. Subs. by Act 46 of 1999, s. 5, for “one thousand rupees” (w.e.f. 1-7-2002).
3. Subs. by s. 5, ibid., for clause (b) (w.e.f. 1-7-2002).
4. Ins. by Act 104 of 1976, s. 22 (w.e.f. 1-2-1977).
5. Subs. by Act 46 of 1999, s. 5, for “five hundred rupees” (w.e.f. 1-7-2002).
Key terms decoded
Detention for a civil (debt) default — not a criminal jail. § 58 fixes how long it may last.
The maximum detention, graduated by the size of the decree — the cap § 51(c) refers to.
A clarificatory declaration (sub-s 1A) — it puts beyond argument that small decrees carry no power to detain.
Coming out of prison does not wipe out the debt — it only ends that spell of detention.
Being jailed again under the same decree — which § 58(2) forbids once the debtor has been detained and released.
The whole sum decreed — the figure tested against the ₹2,000 floor and the ₹5,000 slab.
The picture — the detention slabs
Detention scales with the debt but is always capped; below ₹2,000 it is off the table; and it is a one-shot coercion — suffered once, never repeated under the same decree.
Section 58, part by part
The slabs, the floor, and what release does (and does not) do — open each:
Sub-section (1) caps the detention period and grades it by the decree amount.
Sub-section (1A) puts a floor under it — a clarification added in 1976.
Sub-section (2) draws the line between losing one’s liberty and losing the debt.
How the sub-sections work as one body
The three sub-sections make civil detention a measured, proportionate, last-resort coercion. (1) ties its length to the size of the debt and caps it; (1A) switches it off entirely for petty sums; and (2) makes clear it is a one-shot pressure — it can be used once under a decree and never wipes out the debt, which the creditor must ultimately recover from the debtor’s property. Liberty is squeezed only briefly, only for real sums, and only once.
Amendment history — a timeline
§ 58 was reshaped twice — first a floor was added, then every money figure was raised:
Change B a new sub-section (1A) was inserted — declaring that no detention may be ordered for the smallest decrees.
The principle behind it
How § 58 connects
§ 58 supplies the period-cap the arrest sections depend on. The live links open them.