Special recovery mechanism for tax arrears after conviction excludes simultaneous use of the general Revenue Recovery Act route.

A specific post-conviction recovery mechanism under section 386(3) of the Code of Criminal Procedure prevails over the general Revenue Recovery Act route for sales tax arrears. Where the sales tax statute provides a special execution process after conviction and the amount has been specified for recovery, that special procedure operates exclusively while it remains available. The State was therefore not competent to invoke the Revenue Recovery Act simultaneously, and the petition was allowed.

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Issues: Whether, after conviction under the sales tax law and issuance of a warrant for realisation of the arrears under the Code of Criminal Procedure, the State could still commence recovery proceedings under the Revenue Recovery Act.

Analysis: The sales tax statute provided a general mode of recovery for assessed tax arrears, while the conviction-based recovery mechanism under section 19 of the sales tax Act read with section 386 of the Code of Criminal Procedure was a specific procedure applicable where a criminal conviction had already been entered and the amount had been specified for execution. Where a statute contains both a general recovery provision and a special recovery provision covering the same situation, settled principles of interpretation require the special provision to govern. The Court therefore treated the execution route under section 386(3) as the operative and exclusive course so long as it remained available, and declined to treat the State as competent to invoke the Revenue Recovery Act simultaneously.

Conclusion: The State could not commence proceedings under the Revenue Recovery Act while the recovery procedure under section 386(3) of the Code of Criminal Procedure remained available; the petition was allowed.

Ratio Decidendi: When a statute creates a specific recovery mechanism for a defined situation, that special mechanism prevails over the general recovery provision and excludes resort to the general route so long as the special procedure remains available.

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