CPC 1908 § 55 — Arrest and detention

Statutory text (English)

(1) A judgment-debtor may be arrested in execution of a decree at
any hour and on any day, and shall, as soon as practicable, be brought before the Court 2[which may
make an order for his detention in prison to suffer simple imprisonment for a period not exceeding one
year]:
Provided, firstly, that, for the purpose of making an arrest under this section, no dwelling-house
shall be entered after sunset and before sunrise:
Provided, secondly, that no outer door of a dwelling-house shall be broken open unless such
dwelling-house is in the occupancy of the judgment-debtor and he refuses or in any way prevents
access thereto, but when the officer authorised to make the arrest his duly gained access to any
dwelling-house, he may break open the door of any room in which he has reason to believe the
judgment-debtor is to be found:
Provided, thirdly, that, if the room is in the actual occupancy of a woman who is not the
judgement-debtor and who according to the customs of the country does not appear in public, the
officer authorised to make the arrest shall give notice to her that she is at liberty to withdraw, and, after
allowing a reasonable time for her to withdraw and giving her reasonable facility for withdrawing,
may enter the room for the purpose of making the arrest:
Provided, fourthly, that, where the decree in execution of which a judgment-debtor is arrested,
is a decree for the payment of money and the judgment-debtor pays the amount of the decree and the
costs of the arrest to the officer arresting him, such officer shall at once release him.

(2) The 1[Provincial Government] may, by notification in the 1[official Gazette], declare that
any person or class of persons whose arrest might be attended with danger or inconvenience to the
public shall not be liable to arrest in execution of a decree otherwise than in accordance with such
procedure as may be prescribed by the 1[Provincial Government] in this behalf.
2[
(3) A judgment-debtor detained in prison under sub-section

(1) shall not, merely by reason
of undergoing such imprisonment, be discharged from his liability under the decree, but he shall not
be liable to be re-arrested under the decree in execution of which he was so detained in prison.]

Source and verification

Source citation: CPC (Act V of 1908) s.55: Pakistan Code portal consolidated official PDF 'THE CODE OF CIVIL PROCEDURE, 1908' (Act No. V of 1908; portal status 'Under Review'; reflects amendments through the CPC (Amendment) Act, 2023 incl. inserted s.159), p. 29, 30, ingested 2026-09-15. Automated transcription from official source (pypdf extraction, audited artifact repair); human admin re-check required before production.

Verification status: verified · Text status: auto_transcribed_verified_source

The record cites an official source, but its transcription is automated or only partly checked; a human re-check is pending.

Official Urdu text status: pending_official_urdu_text. Where official Urdu wording has not been sourced, Qanoon does not substitute an unverified translation for the statutory text.

Historical text notes

1 historical record is linked to this section. Historical wording may be incomplete or pending verification; it is not presented as current law.

• Date not confirmed: Consolidated current text as published in the official Pakistan Code PDF (p. 29, 30) — reflects all amendments recorded in the official footnotes up to ingest date 2026-09-15. Automated transcription; per-amendment…

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