State adjustment against tax arrears upheld; departmental divisions lack separate legal personality and writ relief was inappropriate.

The Court stated that the State could adjust amounts payable to a contractor against sales tax arrears and was not confined to the statutory recovery modes in the Travancore-Cochin General Sales Tax Act. It rejected the argument that the Agricultural Department and the Sales Tax Department were separate legal entities, holding that departmental divisions have no existence apart from the Government. It also held that a dispute over such adjustment and alleged breach of undertaking was not ordinarily fit for writ relief under Article 226, where an ordinary civil remedy was appropriate.

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Issues: Whether the Government was entitled to adjust amounts payable to a contractor against the contractor's sales tax arrears, and whether such a grievance could be granted relief in writ proceedings under Article 226.

Analysis: The petitioner had sufficient interest to challenge the adjustment, but the complaint related to an alleged breach of undertaking and to the manner in which the State chose to realize its dues. The Court held that the State was not confined to recovery only by the statutory modes mentioned in sections 13 and 19 of the Travancore-Cochin General Sales Tax Act, 1125, and could rely on the ordinary right of adjustment available to it. The argument that the Agricultural Department and the Sales Tax Department were separate legal entities was rejected, as departmental divisions do not have an existence apart from the Government itself. The Court also held that the matter was one for an ordinary civil suit and not for writ relief.

Conclusion: The adjustment by the Government was upheld and no relief was available in writ jurisdiction.

Final Conclusion: The petition failed because the State's adjustment of the payable amount against sales tax dues was not shown to be unlawful, and the dispute did not justify relief under Article 226.

Ratio Decidendi: A State may adjust amounts payable by it against sums due to it, and its administrative departments have no separate legal personality from the Government for that purpose; a dispute of this kind is not ordinarily amenable to writ relief when an ordinary civil remedy is appropriate.

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