Tax arrears recovery cannot include default imprisonment where the statute limits enforcement to attachment and sale procedures.

Recovery of tax arrears under the Karnataka Sales Tax Act, 1957 must follow the procedure for recovery of fine under Section 421 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which permits attachment and sale of movable property or recovery as arrears of land revenue. That mechanism does not authorise default imprisonment in a tax recovery proceeding, because imprisonment for non-payment applies only where a fine has been imposed and remains unpaid. The Magistrate's order imposing default imprisonment and directing issue of a non-bailable warrant was therefore unsustainable in law and was set aside.

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Issues: Whether, in proceedings for recovery of tax arrears under the Karnataka Sales Tax Act, 1957, the Magistrate could impose default imprisonment and issue a non-bailable warrant when the recovery process yielded no attachable property.

Analysis: Recovery of tax arrears under the Act is to be carried out through the procedure applicable to the recovery of fine under Section 421 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973. That procedure contemplates recovery by attachment and sale of movable property or by warrant to realise the amount as arrears of land revenue. It does not authorise the introduction of a default sentence of imprisonment in a recovery proceeding under the sales tax statute. Default imprisonment is permissible only where a person is sentenced to pay a fine and fails to pay it, not in a proceeding commenced for recovery of tax arrears under the Act.

Conclusion: The order imposing default imprisonment and directing issue of a non-bailable warrant was unsustainable in law and was set aside.

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