Tax arrears recoverable as a fine use fine recovery procedure only, not fine limitation rules.

Arrears of sales tax directed to be recovered "as if it were a fine" are not converted into a fine in law. The phrase authorises only the recovery machinery applicable to fines, including warrant procedure under the Code of Criminal Procedure, and does not extend to the substantive incidents of a penal fine. Accordingly, the limitation regime under section 70 of the Indian Penal Code does not apply to execution of the warrant for recovery of such tax arrears, because the deeming effect is confined to the mode of recovery and not the legal character of the liability.

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Issues: Whether arrears of sales tax specified in a magistrate's order under the sales tax law, made recoverable as if they were a fine, could be treated as a fine so as to attract the limitation period under section 70 of the Indian Penal Code for execution of the warrant.

Analysis: The expression "recoverable as if it were a fine" was held not to create a deeming fiction converting the tax arrears into a fine in law. The statutory direction operated only to adopt the recovery machinery applicable to fines, namely the warrant procedure under section 386(1)(b) of the Code of Criminal Procedure. The legal fiction, if any, was confined to the mode of recovery and did not extend to the incidents of a penal fine, including the limitation regime under section 70 of the Indian Penal Code.

Conclusion: Section 70 of the Indian Penal Code did not govern execution of the warrant for recovery of the sales tax arrears, and the limitation objection failed.

Ratio Decidendi: Where tax arrears are directed to be recovered as if they were a fine, the direction authorises only the procedural machinery for recovery and does not transform the arrears into a fine for all legal purposes, including limitation.

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