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Section 64: Private alienation of property after attachment to be void

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Statutory Regulation
Legal Standard
Competent Court / Tribunal
Act 1908
Section 63 All 158 Sections of Code of Civil Procedure Section 65
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Judgment Sec 2(9)

Legal Commentary & Landmark Judgments: Section 64

Section 64 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 voids any private transfer or delivery of property made after an attachment has been duly effected by the court, protecting the execution lien.

  • Core Legal Standard: Section 64(1) enacts: 'Where an attachment has been made, any private transfer or delivery of the property attached or of any interest therein.
  • Operational Application: Any payment to the judgment-debtor of any debt, dividend or other moneys contrary to such attachment, shall be void as against all claims enforceable under the attachment.'.

Section 64 protects the integrity of judicial execution by declaring any private transfer of property made after court attachment to be void against all execution claims.

However, the 2002 Amendment added sub-section (2), which creates a vital statutory exception: 'Nothing in this section shall apply to any private transfer or delivery of the property attached or of any interest therein, made in pursuance of any contract for such transfer or delivery entered into and registered before the attachment.' If a registered agreement to sell was executed prior to the attachment, a subsequent sale deed executed pursuant to that agreement prevails over the attachment.

Key Landmark Precedents:
  • Hamda Ammal v. Avadiappa Pathar, (1991) 1 SCC 715: The Supreme Court held that a sale deed executed prior to an attachment before judgment, though registered after the attachment, prevails over the attachment by virtue of relation back under Section 47 of the Registration Act.
  • Kancherla Lakshminarayana v. Mattaparthi Syamala, (2008) 14 SCC 258: The Court held that Section 64 voids transfers only as against claims enforceable under the attachment; if the attachment is withdrawn or decree satisfied, the private transfer remains valid between the contracting parties.
  • Salem Advocate Bar Assn. (I) v. Union of India, (2003) 1 SCC 49: The Court affirmed the validity of Section 64(2) protecting registered pre-attachment contractual commitments.
Legal Commentary:

Section 64 is a relative nullity, not an absolute one: the private sale is void *only as against the attaching decree-holder* to the extent necessary to satisfy the decree. If the execution is satisfied from other assets, the private alienation stands good between vendor and purchaser. Under Section 64(2), pre-attachment registered agreements to sell enjoy complete immunity.

Section 63 All 158 Sections of Code of Civil Procedure Section 65