Imprisonment for non-payment of fine, when offence punishable with fine only
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Summary
If an offence is punishable only with a fine, the court may send the offender to simple imprisonment when the fine is not paid. That imprisonment must be simple (not rigorous) and is limited by a scale: up to 2 months if the fine is up to 50 rupees, up to 4 months if up to 100 rupees, and up to 6 months otherwise.
Example
Ravi runs a small tea stall and is fined 40 rupees for obstructing the pavement. He cannot pay the fine, so the court may order simple imprisonment for up to two months in default of payment.
Bare Act
Enacted textIf the offence be punishable with fine only, the imprisonment which the Court imposes in default of payment of the fine shall be simple, and the term for which the Court directs the offender to be imprisoned, in default of payment of fine, shall not exceed the following scale, that is to say, for any term not exceeding two months when the amount of the fine shall not exceed fifty rupees, and for any term not exceeding four months when the amount shall not exceed one hundred rupees, and for any term not exceeding six months in any other case.
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