An order was made in interpleader proceedings that the sheriff should sell the goods seized and pay the claimant, the execution creditor undertaking to make good any deficiency on sale. There was a deficiency, and the master ordered that the execution creditor should pay the amount to the claimant. Default being made in payment, an order was made committing the execution creditor for contempt of court. There was no proof that he had means to pay.
Held: that the case was one of default in payment of a sum of money, within the meaning of s. 4 of the Debtors Act, 1869 (32 and 33 Viet. c. 62), and that an order of commitment could not be made.
Wills J said: ‘This was a simple order to pay money, but it is sought to treat the default in obeying the order as a contempt of court, on the ground that the order for payment was made in pursuance of an undertaking which had been given by the plaintiff. There is however no difference between an order to pay money made in pursuance of an undertaking and any other order to pay a sum of money. It is true that the undertaking is the original ground of the liability, but attachment is never granted except for disobedience of an order to do or abstain from doing some specific thing. Here the only order that could be made in pursuance of the undertaking is to pay the money. The words of the Debtors Act, 1869 (32 and 33 Vict. c. 62), s. 4, shew that under such circumstances, if the case does not come within any of the exceptions mentioned, there can be no imprisonment for default in payment, for the money is due as a debt.’
Wills J
[1893] 1 QB 105, [1892] UKLawRpKQB 212
Debtors Act 1869 4
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Hussain v Vaswani and Others CA 18-Sep-2020
Breach of Undertaking went Beyond Debt
The tenant had obtained a stay of execution of a warrant for possession, by undertaking to discharge the arrears. He failed to pay, and the Court now considered whether such a failure was a contempt with a possible imprisonment for punishment. The . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Contempt of Court
Updated: 11 December 2021; Ref: scu.654050