(1) Where assets are held by a Court and more persons than one have, before the receipt of such assets, made application to the Court for the execution of decrees for the payment of money passed against the same judgment-debtor and have not obtained satisfaction thereof, the assets, after deducting the costs of realization, shall be rateably distributed among all such persons:
Provided as follows:—
(a) where any property is sold subject to a mortgage or charge, the mortgagee or incumbrancer shall not be entitled to share in any surplus arising from such sale;
(b) where any property liable to be sold in execution of a decree is subject to a mortgage or charge, the Court may, with the consent of the mortgagee or incumbrancer, order that the property be sold free from the mortgage or charge, giving to the mortgagee or incumbrancer the same interest in the proceeds of the sale as he had in the property sold;
(c) where any immovable property is sold in execution of a decree ordering its sale for the discharge of an incumbrance thereon, the proceeds of sale shall be applied—
first, in defraying the expenses of the sale;
secondly, in discharging the amount due under the incumbrance;
thirdly, in discharging the amount due under subsequent incumbrances (if any) in the order of their priority; and
fourthly, rateably among the holders of decrees for the payment of money against the judgment-debtor, who have, prior to the sale of the property, applied to the Court which passed the decree ordering such sale for execution of such decrees, and have not obtained satisfaction thereof.
(2) Where all or any of the assets liable to be rateably distributed under this section are paid to a person not entitled to receive the same, any person so entitled may sue such person to compel him to refund the assets.
(3) Nothing in this section affects any right of the Government.
Legal Commentary & Landmark Judgments: Section 73
Section 73 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 provides for the rateable distribution of execution-sale proceeds among competing decree-holders against the same judgment-debtor.
Section 73 establishes an equitable distribution mechanism, ensuring rateable division of execution sale proceeds among competing decree-holders against a common judgment-debtor.
The conditions precedent are strict: (1) multiple decrees for payment of money; (2) against the same judgment-debtor; (3) applicant must have applied for execution before the court received the assets; and (4) the decrees remain unsatisfied. Sub-section (3) saves crown and government debts, preserving the sovereign priority of state taxes over ordinary decree-holders.
To participate in rateable distribution, a creditor must act promptly: the execution petition must be pending before the executing court *prior to* the physical receipt of auction sale proceeds by the court. If an execution application is filed after the money is deposited in court, the creditor is excluded from the distribution.