Statutory recovery mode controls garnishee notices; notice set aside where dues had to be recovered as land revenue.

Where Section 17 of the Andhra Pradesh General Sales Tax Act provides that outstanding dues are recoverable as arrears of land revenue, a garnishee notice issued outside that statutory mode is incompetent. The court read the recovery provision strictly and noted that no proceedings had been initiated under the A.P. Land Revenue Act, which was the lawful mechanism for such recovery. On that basis, the garnishee notice could not be sustained and was set aside.

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Issues: Whether the garnishee notice issued under Section 17 of the Andhra Pradesh General Sales Tax Act was valid, and whether recovery of the outstanding dues could lawfully be made otherwise than as arrears of land revenue.

Analysis: The notice was examined against the language of Section 17, including the provision that outstanding dues may be recovered as arrears of land revenue. On that construction, the impugned garnishee notice could not be sustained. The Court also noted that no proceedings had been initiated under the A.P. Land Revenue Act, which was the lawful mode for such recovery.

Conclusion: The garnishee notice was invalid and liable to be quashed.

Final Conclusion: The writ petition succeeded and the impugned notice was set aside.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a fiscal recovery provision specifies recovery as arrears of land revenue, a garnishee notice issued outside that statutory mode is incompetent and unenforceable.

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