Section 30 of the Divorce Act, 1869: Liability for Seizing Wife's Property After Notice of Order

Section 30 protects property covered by a protection order under the Divorce Act, 1869. It creates a civil remedy where a husband, his creditor, or a person claiming under him seizes or continues to hold the wife's property after receiving notice of the order.

Text of Section 30

Section 30 - Liability of husband seizing wife's property after notice of order.

If the husband, or any creditor of, or person claiming under, the husband, seizes or continues to hold any property of the wife after notice of any such order, he shall be liable, at the suit of the wife (which she is hereby empowered to bring), to return or deliver to her the specific property, and also to pay her a sum equal to double its value.

Meaning and scope of Section 30

Section 30 forms part of the provisions dealing with protection orders. Its operation should therefore be read with Section 27, which permits a deserted wife in the circumstances specified there to seek protection of property, Section 28, which authorises the Court to grant a protection order, and Section 29, which deals with discharge or variation of such an order.

When liability arises

On the statutory wording, the remedy applies when there is a relevant protection order, the husband or a creditor or person claiming under him has notice of that order, and that person nevertheless seizes or continues to hold property of the wife. Notice is important because Section 30 expressly attaches liability to conduct occurring after notice of the order.

Remedies available to the wife

The section expressly empowers the wife to institute a suit. The statutory consequences are cumulative: the person liable must return or deliver the specific property and must also pay a sum equal to double the value of that property.

Practical reading: Section 30 is not a general provision governing every dispute over matrimonial property. Its text is specifically connected with property protected by an order under the preceding protection-order provisions and with seizure or continued possession after notice.

Related provisions

Official legal source

For the authoritative statutory text and amendment notes, refer to the India Code portal and the Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice.