judgment-debtor

Section 2(10) CPC defines a judgment-debtor as any person against whom a decree has been passed or an order capable of execution has been made. The person in whose favour the decree is passed is the decree-holder (Section 2(3)).

The term matters mainly in execution proceedings: the decree is executed against the judgment-debtor by attachment and sale of property, arrest and detention in civil prison, delivery of property and other modes in Section 51 and Order XXI CPC. If the judgment-debtor dies, the decree may be executed against his legal representative to the extent of the estate that came to his hands (Section 50 CPC).

Example

The decree-holder applied for attachment of the judgment-debtor’s salary under Order XXI CPC.

In Indian law

• Sections 2(10), 50 and 51 and Order XXI, Code of Civil Procedure, 1908

See also

decree-holder · execution · attachment · garnishee

Read more in the study notes

• Introduction to the CPC: procedural law, history and key definitions (Civil Procedure Code and Limitation Act)
• Execution: general principles, the executing court and transfer of decrees (Civil Procedure Code and Limitation Act)
• Modes of execution: arrest and detention, attachment, and sale (Civil Procedure Code and Limitation Act)
• Computation of limitation: exclusion of time, fraud, acknowledgment, part-payment and continuing wrongs (Civil Procedure Code and Limitation Act)
• Original petitions and execution petitions (Drafting, Pleading and Conveyance)
• Restitution of conjugal rights and judicial separation (Family Law I - Hindu Law)