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TMI Blog2021 (6) TMI 1041X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Section 25 onwards deal with the service of demand prior to effecting recovery of arrears from sale/disposal of immovable property. Section 25 deals with service of demand prior to attachment of land and mode of service thereof. Section 26 stipulates the procedure when a defaulter neglects to pay despite service of demand, Section 27, with the mode of attachment of immovable property, Section 28 with the management of the property which is under attachment, Section 29 with notice to be given on the assumption of management and so on and so forth, the succeeding provisions not being relevant for the purpose of this writ petition - All powers from Section 25 onwards, which are to be exercised by a Collector or other officer empowered by the C ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... cherry Revenue Recovery Act, 1970, (PRR Act). 2. Heard Mr. S. Raveekumar, learned counsel for the petitioners, Mr. J. Kumaran, learned Additional Government Pleader for R1 to R4 in both writ petitions and Mr. M.L. Ganesh, learned counsel for R5 and R6 in W.P.No.6806 of 2020. 3. The relevant facts necessary to adjudicate the legal issues that arise in these writ petitions are: (i) The individual is, admittedly, in arrears of sales tax under the provisions of the Puducherry Value Added Tax Act, 2007 (Act/PVAT Act). (ii) The firm is not registered as a dealer for the purposes of the PVAT Act and has not been assessed thus far under the provisions of the Act. (iii) The firm is assessed to income tax and a copy of its PAN car ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ce is placed on the provisions of Section 69 of the Indian Partnership Act, 1932 (IP Act), various judgments of the Supreme Court, and a decision of the Kerala High Court. 5. I address the above issues in seriatim, referring to the relevant provisions of the statute concerned and the case law cited. 6. Issue (i). The PVAT Act, in Section 37 onwards (Chapter-V), deals with the demand and recovery of tax. Section 38 deals with the recovery of penalty, Section 39 with further modes of recovery, Section 40 with provisional attachment of property to protect the interests of revenue, Section 41 with recovery of tax where the business of a dealer is transferred, Section 42 with special powers for recovery and Section 43 with the withholding ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... immovable property, Section 28 with the management of the property which is under attachment, Section 29 with notice to be given on the assumption of management and so on and so forth, the succeeding provisions not being relevant for the purpose of this writ petition. 11. All powers from Section 25 onwards, which are to be exercised by a Collector or other officer empowered by the Collector would, by application of Section 42 of the PVAT Act, be carried out by the designated officers of the Commercial Taxes Department. 12. Mr.Kumaran would attempt to state that the procedure under the PVAT Act is two pronged and Section 37(3), which refers to recovery of arrears as though it were an arrear of land revenue would permit officials of the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... s on to say that the Act places no prohibition upon an unregistered partnership making contracts either between the partners or with a third party, nor upon an unregistered partnership acquiring property or assets. The fact that the firm was not registered with the Registrar of Firm as on the date of acquisition of the property is thus, immaterial. 15. Mr.Kumaran relies on a decision of the Kerala High Court in Shakeela C.K. Vs. The Tahsildar and Others (W.P.(C).No.39599 of 2018). That case deals with whether, in a property jointly owned by the parties, recovery could be taken as against the share of one co-owner even prior to partition. The facts therein are distinguishable and do not advance the case of the respondent. The property ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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