Third-party transfer before recovery bars attachment and sale under the Revenue Recovery Act for the defaulter's arrears.

Property already settled in favour of a third party before recovery action begins cannot be attached or sold for the defaulter's arrears under the Revenue Recovery Act. The statutory power extends only to property belonging to the defaulter at the time attachment and sale are initiated, and land no longer standing in the defaulter's name falls outside that reach. On that basis, the notice of attachment and sale was unsustainable because the property had ceased to be the defaulter's property before proceedings commenced.

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Issues: Whether property settled in favour of a third party before initiation of recovery proceedings could be attached and sold under the Revenue Recovery Act for arrears due from the defaulter.

Analysis: Section 5 of the Madras Revenue Recovery Act authorises recovery of arrears by sale of the defaulter's movable and immovable property. The expression "defaulter" is understood as the person in default, and the statutory power extends only to property belonging to that person. Where the property had already been settled in favour of another before the notice for attachment and sale was issued, it had ceased to be the defaulter's property. In such a situation, the Revenue Recovery Act does not permit the authority to proceed against property standing in the name of a third party. The principle was applied consistently with the view that land not registered in the defaulter's name cannot be attached and sold for the defaulter's revenue arrears.

Conclusion: The impugned notice of attachment and sale could not be sustained, as the property was not the defaulter's property when recovery action was initiated.

Final Conclusion: Recovery proceedings under the Revenue Recovery Act cannot be enforced against property that had already been transferred away from the defaulter before the initiation of attachment and sale proceedings.

Ratio Decidendi: Under the Revenue Recovery Act, only property belonging to the defaulter at the time of recovery action can be attached and sold for arrears; property previously transferred to a third party lies outside the statutory reach.

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