Recovery of sales tax arrears may proceed without exhausting alternate remedies under the Karnataka Sales Tax Act.

Section 13(3)(b) of the Karnataka Sales Tax Act permits the Commercial Tax Officer to apply to the Magistrate for recovery of sales tax arrears from a defaulter without first exhausting the other statutory recovery modes. The provision is expressed as operating without prejudice to other remedies, and it does not create a condition precedent requiring prior resort to alternate recovery procedures. The Magistrate therefore acted on an incorrect legal basis in rejecting the applications solely for non-exhaustion of other remedies, and the applications were maintainable under the Act.

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Issues: Whether an application by the Commercial Tax Officer under section 13(3)(b) of the Karnataka Sales Tax Act for recovery of arrears of sales tax from a defaulter could be made without first exhausting the other modes of recovery provided by the Act.

Analysis: Section 13(3)(b) authorises an application to the Magistrate for recovery of sales tax due from a defaulter without prejudice to the other remedies open to the applicant. The provision does not impose a condition that the other modes of recovery under the Act must be exhausted before the Magistrate can be approached. The Magistrate therefore erred in dismissing the applications solely on the ground of non-exhaustion of alternative remedies.

Conclusion: The applications under section 13(3)(b) were maintainable without prior exhaustion of other recovery remedies, and the orders dismissing them were set aside.

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