Order 39 Rule 2A CPC: detention for disobedience of an injunction may be ordered without prior attachment of property.

Under Order 39 Rule 2A CPC, attachment of the contemner's property is not a prerequisite to detention in civil prison for disobedience of an injunction. The provision is construed as giving the court independent and cumulative remedies: it may order attachment, detention, or both, depending on the facts. The rule is distinct from Order 21 Rule 32 and should not be read as making attachment a mandatory first step. Accordingly, the court may order civil detention alone where warranted, and attachment is not a condition precedent.

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Issues: Whether, under Order 39 Rule 2A of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, attachment of the contemner's property is a prerequisite to ordering detention in civil prison for disobedience of an injunction order.

Analysis: Order 39 Rule 2A uses the words "may order the property ... to be attached, and may also order such person to be detained in the civil prison", but those words must be read in context and not as making attachment a mandatory first step. The provision is distinct from Order 21 Rule 32, which deals with enforcement of decrees of injunction and employs different language and mechanisms. The purpose of Rule 2A is to enable the court both to compel obedience by attachment and to punish disobedience by civil imprisonment; either course may be taken, or both together, depending on the facts. A construction making attachment indispensable would create an anomalous result where a defiant party without property could not be effectively dealt with.

Conclusion: Attachment of property is not a condition precedent to ordering detention in civil prison under Order 39 Rule 2A; the court may order detention alone or along with attachment.

Ratio Decidendi: The power under Order 39 Rule 2A to attach property and the power to detain the disobedient party in civil prison are independent, cumulative remedies to be exercised according to the facts of the case, and attachment is not mandatory before detention can be ordered.

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