Court deposit recovery for agricultural income-tax arrears was upheld, with government priority preserved over deposited funds.

Arrears of agricultural income-tax could be recovered from money already lying in court deposit by seeking payment out through the executing court. Section 41 of the Tamil Nadu Agricultural Income-tax Act, 1955 provides for forwarding a recovery certificate to the District Collector, but that statutory machinery did not bar recourse to the deposited amount in the assessee-judgment-debtor's credit. Because such tax arrears are treated as land revenue, the Government retained priority over the deposit, and the recovery method was held valid.

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Issues: Whether agricultural income-tax arrears could be recovered by seeking payment out of money lying in court deposit through the executing court, notwithstanding the procedure under section 41 of the Tamil Nadu Agricultural Income-tax Act, 1955.

Analysis: Section 41 contemplates a certificate being forwarded to the District Collector for recovery of the arrears, and the Collector may proceed to realise the amount by the modes available under civil procedure. The amount in question was already lying in court deposit to the credit of the assessee-judgment-debtor. In these circumstances, approaching the executing court for payment out did not contravene the statutory recovery machinery or the Civil Procedure Code. Since the arrears of tax are treated as land revenue, the Government was entitled to priority over the deposited amount.

Conclusion: The recovery by payment out from the court deposit was valid, and the revision was liable to be dismissed.

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