Director not personally liable for company tax arrears absent specific statute; unlawful recovery proceedings quashed at threshold.

A company's sales tax arrears cannot be recovered from its director under the Kerala Revenue Recovery Act unless a specific statutory provision fastens personal liability on him. The company remains a separate legal entity, and a revenue recovery authority can proceed only against a legally liable defaulter, not against a person merely shown at an address. Where initiation itself is without jurisdiction, writ relief under Article 226 may be invoked at the threshold to prevent unlawful arrest and detention proceedings.

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Issues: Whether a director of a company could be proceeded against under section 65 of the Kerala Revenue Recovery Act for recovery of sales tax arrears due from the company, and whether the show-cause notice issued for arrest and detention was without jurisdiction.

Analysis: The liability sought to be recovered was admittedly that of the company, which is a legal entity distinct from its directors. In the absence of a specific statutory provision fastening personal liability on the director, proceedings under section 65 could not be initiated against him merely because he was shown as available at an address. The Collector, exercising powers akin to an executing authority, could proceed only against a person who was legally a defaulter. Where the very initiation of proceedings lacked jurisdiction, the petitioner was not bound to undergo the process of appearing and challenging a consequential order after potential arrest and detention. Article 226 could be invoked to prevent an unlawful exercise of power at the threshold.

Conclusion: The notice and all proceedings under section 65 of the Kerala Revenue Recovery Act against the petitioner were without jurisdiction and were quashed.

Ratio Decidendi: A director cannot be personally proceeded against for recovery of a company's tax arrears under revenue recovery provisions unless a specific statute fastens such liability on him, and proceedings initiated without such authority are liable to be quashed under writ jurisdiction.

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