Insolvent Debtors, East Indies Act 1828
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | 1828 c. 73 |
| Year | 1828 |
(9 Geo. 4) C A P. LXXIII.
[19th July 1828]
'WHEREAS divers good Laws have of late Years been established within the United Kingdom ofGreat Britain and Ireland for the Relief of Insolvent Debtors, and it is right that Relief be given also to Insolvent Debtors in some Parts of the East Indies ;' Be it therefore enacted by the King's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the Authority of the same, Thatfrom and after the First Day ofMarch One thousand eight hundred and twenty-nine, there shall be holden, within the respective Limits of the Towns of Calcutta, Madras , and Bombay , separate Courts for the Relief of Insolvent Debtors, which shall be Courts of Record, and shall be styled ‘The Courts for the Relief of Insolvent Debtors;’ and that His Majesty's Supreme Courts of Judicature at Calcutta, Madras , and Bombay respectively, shall from time to time appoint such of their Officers, or if the Officers of such Supreme Courts shall be found insufficient, such additional Persons as may be necessary to transact the Business of such Courts, and to act as Common Assignees, Examiners, and Ministerial Officers of such Courts; and it shall be lawful for the said Courts for the Relief of Insolvent Debtors to administer Oaths,and examine Parties and Witnesses upon Oath or solemn Affirmation; and the said Courts, within and throughout theBritish Territories under the Government of the United Company of Merchants of England trading to the East Indies , shall have the like Powers of issuing Commissions to take Evidence, and of enforcing the Attendance of Witnesses and the Production of Books, Papers, and Writings, and of summoning, examining, and enforcing the Attendance of any Insolvent Debtor, or his Wife, or any other Person who may be able to give Information respecting the Debts, Estates, or Effects of and such Insolvent Debtor, as are now possessed by the said Supreme Court, or as are possessed by Commissioners of Bankrupt, in case of Bankruptcy, for the Purpose of summoning, examining, and enforcing the Attendance of Bankrupts and their Wives, and other Persons, under and by virtue of an Act passed in the Sixth Year of the Reign of His present Majesty, and intituled ; and the said Courts for the Relief of Insolvent Debtors shall also have the Power of fining in a summary Way, or of committing to the Common Gaol, all Persons guilty of Contempt of Court, and of fining in a summary Way and of removing any of their Officers who shall be guilty of Negligence or Misconduct; but the said Courts for the Relief of Insolvent Debtors shall not have the Power of awarding Costs against any Person, except in Cases in which it is expressly permitted by this Act, or in which it shall be expressly permitted by some Rule which shall be made by the said Supreme Courts respectively, for the Purposes and in the Manner hereinafter stated: Provided always, that the said Courts for the Relief of Insolvent Debtors shall not summon or examine any Native of theEast Indies otherwise than by Commission, in any Case in which such summoning or Examination shall appear to the said Court to be repugnant to the Customs and Usages of the Country.
II Practice of the Court.
II. And be it further enacted, That a Court for the Relief of Insolvent Debtors shall be holden once a Month at least throughout the Year, and oftener if need be, inCalcutta , and as often as may be found necessary within the Towns of Madras and Bombay , by any one Judge of the said Supreme Courts of Judicature respectively; and it shall be lawful for the said Courts for the Relief of Insolvent Debtors to adjourn from time to time as they may think fit, and for the said Courts, and the said Supreme Courts respectively, be sitting at one and the same Time, and severally to act and proceed in the Exercise of their respective Powers; and every Advocate or Attorney of the said Supreme Courts at Calcutta, Madras , and Bombay respectively, shall be admitted to practise in the Way of his Profession in the said Courts for the Relief of Insolvent Debtors respectively, and no other Persons shall practise as Advocates or Attornies in the said Courts for the Relief of Insolvent Debtors; and the said Supreme Courts of Judicature respectively shall have Power from time to time to establish Rules to regulate the Proceedings of the Courts for the Relief of Insolvent Debtors to be holden within their respective Jurisdictions, and especially to prescribe in what Manner Notice shall be given to the Creditors of Parties applying for Relief under this Act, and in what Cases, besides those mentioned in this Act, Costs may be awarded; and shall prepare, and cause to be sealed with their respective Seals, a sufficient and proper List of Fees to be charged and received by the Officers of the Courts for the Relief of Insolvent Debtors, and shall certify under their respective Seals, and transmit to the President of the Board of Commissioners for the Affairs ofIndia , Copies of such Rules and Lists of Fees, to be laid before His Majesty for His Royal Approbation, Correction, or Revision, and other Copies of the same shall at all Times he fixed in conspicuous Places in the Courts for the Relief of Insolvent Debtors; and no other Fee or Gratuity shall be received or taken by any Officer or Attorney of such last-mentioned Courts on any Pretence whatsoever, except such as shall be specified in such Lists.
III Parties interested may require Evidence to be taken down in Writing.
III. And be it further enacted, That any Person who shall be interested in any Petition for Relief which shall be presented by any Insolvent Person to any of the said Courts for the Relief of Insolvent Debtors, or in any Petition which shall be presented against any Trader to any of the said Courts, praying an Adjudication of Insolvency as hereinafter mentioned, or in any Proceeding of any of the said Courts respecting any such Petition, upon depositing with the proper Officer of the Court a Sum of Money of which the Amount shall be fixed by the Court, may require that the whole of the Evidence relating to any Proceeding in which he has an Interest may be taken down in Writing by a sworn Officer of the Court, and the same shall be done accordingly; and in case the Party who shall have so required such Evidence to be taken down in Writing shall not within One Calendar Month thereafter present his or her Petition of Appeal as is hereinafter directed, it shall be lawful for the Court in which such Evidence shall have been so taken down in Writing as aforesaid to pay the reasonable Costs and Expences thereof out of the Money which shall have been so deposited as aforesaid, returning the Overplus, if any, to the Person who shall have deposited the same.
IV Parties aggrieved may petition the Supreme Court, &c.
IV. And be it further enacted, That it shall be lawful for any Person who shall think himself aggrieved by any Adjudication, Order, or Proceeding of any such Court for the Relief of Insolvent Debtors, to present, within One Calendar Month thereafter, a Petition to the Supreme Court of Judicature of the Presidency where such Court for the Relief of Insolvent Debtors shall be holden, or if such Supreme Court of Judicature shall not be sitting, then to present such Petition to One of the Judges thereof; and it shall be lawful for the Court or Judge to which or to whom any such Petition shall be presented to order that the whole of the Evidence, if any, which shall have been so taken down in Writing as aforesaid, and the Minutes and Records of the Proceedings of which Complaint shall have been made, shall be brought before it; and the said last-mentioned Court shall enquire into the Matter of the Petition and of such Proceedings and Evidence, and shall make such Order thereon as to the same Court shall seem meet and just, and shall thereby direct by whom and in what Manner the Costs of such Petition, and of the Proceedings which shall have been had thereon, and of the taking down of any such Evidence in Writing, and of the Proceedings of which Complaint shall have been made, shall be paid; and such Order shall be final and conclusive as to all Parties, and shall be compulsory and binding upon the Court in which such Proceedings so complained of shall have been had.
V Persons imprisoned for Debts may petition the Court for the Relief of Insolvents.
V. And be it further enacted, That after the Time hereinbefore appointed for this Act to take effect, any Person who shall be in Prison within the respective Limits of the Towns ofCalcutta, Madras , and Bombay , for Debt Damage, Cost, or Money which such Person is solely, or jointly with any other or others, liable to pay, or for Contempt of any Court whatsoever, by the Nonpayment of Money only, may, at any Time within Fourteen Days next after the Commencement of the actual Custody of such Debtor, or afterwards, if the Court shall in any Case think it reasonable and proper to permit the same, apply by Petition to the Court for the Relief of Insolvent Debtors within the Presidency where such Insolvent Debtor shall then be; and in such Petition there shall be stated the Place wherein the Prisoner shall be then confined, the Time when he or she shall have been first charged in Custody, and the Parties by whom, and the Reasons and the Amount for which, he or she shall at the Time of presenting such Petition be detained; and the said Petition shall be...
To continue reading
Request your trial