Limit to imprisonment for non-payment of fine, when imprisonment and fine awardable
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Summary
If an offence is punishable with imprisonment as well as a fine, imprisonment ordered because the offender cannot pay the fine cannot exceed one-quarter of the maximum imprisonment fixed for that offence. The limit applies only to imprisonment in default of payment, not to any separate sentence for the offence.
Example
Ravi is convicted of an offence punishable by up to two years imprisonment and a fine. The court imposes only a fine but orders imprisonment in default of payment; because the maximum term is two years, the default jail term cannot exceed six months.
Bare Act
Enacted textThe term for which the court directs the offender to be imprisoned in default of payment of a fine shall not exceed one-fourth of the term of imprisonment which is the maximum fixed for the offence, if the offence be punishable with imprisonment as well as fine.
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