6.
| (1) If on the application of a person entitled to receive any payment under an order of maintenance, it appears to the Magistrate that the respondent has defaulted in the payment of maintenance due for a period exceeding two months, the Magistrate may, alter inquiry, by an order, thereinafter referred to as an "attachment of salary order") require the person to whom the order is directed, being a person appearing to the Magistrate to be the respondent's employer, to deduct, for such period as may be specified in the order, such amount from the respondent's salary as may be specified in the order and forthwith to remit that amount to the applicant in the manner directed by Court. |
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| (2)
| | (a) Before an order is made under subsection (1) of this section, the Magistrate shall notice She person on whom he proposes to serve such order, So show cause, if any, why an order should not be made under that subsection, and to require him to furnish to the court, within such period as may be specified in such order, the salary particulars of the respondent. Any order made under subsection (1) of this section may be the subject of an appeal to a High Court established by Article 154P of the Constitution by any person aggrieved by such order but notwithstanding such appeal, the Magistrate may decide to continue proceedings under this Act. The provisions of section 14 of this Act shall, mutatis mutandis, apply to, and in relation to, every such appeal. | | |
| | (b) The Magistrate may also by an order served on the respondent, require him to furnish to the Court within such period as may be specified in such order, a statement specifying -
| | | (i) the name and address of his employer or employers as the case may be. if he has more than one employer : |
| (ii) such particulars as to his salary, inclusive of deductions, as may be within his knowledge ; and |
| (iii) any other particulars as are required or necessary to enable his employer or employers to identify him. |
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| (3) A statement furnished in compliance with an order made under paragraph (b) of subsection (2) of this section shall, in any proceedings any court, be received as evidence and be deemed to be prima facie proof of the particulars referred to in the said paragraph, unless the contrary is shown. |
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| (4) The Magistrate shall not make an attachment of salary order, if it appears to him, that the failure of the respondent to make any payment in accordance with the order of maintenance in question, was not due to his wilful refusal or culpable neglect. |
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| (5) In determining the amount to be deducted from the respondent's salary in forms of subsection (1) of this section, the Magistrate shall have regard to the resources and needs of the respondent, and the needs of the person, the payment of whose maintenance is in default. |
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| (6) An attachment of salary order shall not come into force until the expiration of fourteen days from the date on which a copy of the order is served on the person to whom the order is directed. |
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| (7) An attachment of salary order may on the application of the respondent or the person entitled to receive payment under the order of maintenance, be discharged or varied. |
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| (8) A person to whom an attachment of salary order is directed shall, subject to the provisions of this Act, comply with the order or, if the order is subsequently varied under subsection (7), with the- order as varied. |
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| (9) Where, on any occasion on which any deductions have to be made from the salary of a respondent in pursuance of an attachment of salary order, there are in force, two or more orders for attachment, of salary, relating to such salary, made under this Act or other written law, then, for the purposes of complying with this section, the employer shall, notwithstanding anything to the contrary in any other written law, first give effect to an order of attachment made under this Act and deal with any other order in respect of the residue of the respondent's salary according to she respective dates on which they came into force. |
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| (10) An employer who in pursuance of an attachment of salary order makes any payment shall forthwith give to the respondent a statement in writing specifying the amount deducted from his salary in pursuance of such order. |
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| (11) Any employer who fails or neglects to comply with an attachment of salary order shall be liable on conviction by a Magistrate's Court to a fine not exceeding five hundred rupees and in the case of a second or subsequent conviction in respect of the same attachment of salary order, to a fine not exceeding one thousand rupees : |
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| (12) provisions of this section shall, notwithstanding anything to the contrary in any other written law, have effect in relation to an attachment of salary that may be made by a Magistrate under this Act |
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| (13) For the purposes of this section -
| | (a) where the respondent is a public officer or an officer of a provincial public service, the head of the department to which he is for the time being attached shall be deemed to be his employer; | | |
| | (b) where the respondent is a member of the Local Government Service and employed in any local authority, the Commissioner if it be a Municipal Council, or the Chairman if it be an Urban Council or a Pradeshiya Sabha, as the case may be, shall be deemed to be his employer ; | | |
| | (c) where the respondent is a person employed in any Corporation, Statutory Board or Company, the principal officer of such Corporation. Statutory Board or Company, as the case may be, shall be deemed to be his employer; | | |
| | (d) where the respondent is a person employed in any partnership, the Managing partner or the Manager of such partnership shall be deemed to be his employer; and | | |
| | (e) where the respondent is a member of the armed forces, the commander of the unit to which he is attached shall be deemed to be his employer. | | |
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Sri Lanka Consolidated Acts