Fiscal attachment bars execution of a money decree when the decretal amount is already under Income-tax Department recovery

Execution of a money decree was found not maintainable where the decretal amount was already under subsisting attachment by the Income-tax Department and the judgment-debtor was paying it in instalments. The court reasoned that the executing court could not proceed on the basis that any recovered amount would still remain subject to fiscal attachment, because the funds were not freely available for execution. On that footing, the execution application failed and the judgment-debtor's objections were allowed.

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Issues: Whether execution of the money decree was maintainable when the decretal amount had already been attached by the Income-tax Department and was being paid by the judgment-debtor in instalments.

Analysis: The attachment of the decretal amount by the Income-tax Department meant that the amount was already under subsisting fiscal attachment. In such a situation, the executing court could not treat the decree-holder's execution as maintainable merely on the premise that the amount, if recovered, would continue to remain subject to the attachment. The fact that the judgment-debtor was making payments to the Income-tax Department further reinforced that the amount was not ly available for execution.

Conclusion: The execution application was not maintainable, and the objections of the judgment-debtor were allowed.

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