Belated challenge to completed tax recovery sale fails where finality and prior civil remedies bar reopening the proceedings.

A belated writ challenge to recovery and sale proceedings under the Income-tax Act was found unsustainable where the assessment year preceded the enforcement of Schedule II, the recovery steps had gone unchallenged contemporaneously, and the property sale had attained finality long earlier. The Court noted that the petitioner had already pursued civil remedies without success and that there was no sufficient grievance to reopen completed recovery action. The writ petition was therefore held not maintainable at that stage, and the Revenue's recovery action was left undisturbed.

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Issues: Whether the writ petition challenging the recovery and sale proceedings could be entertained on the ground that Schedule II procedure under the Income-tax Act, 1961 ought to have been followed instead of the recovery mechanism actually adopted, despite the proceedings having culminated in a final sale long earlier.

Analysis: The assessment related to the assessment year 1957-58, which was prior to the enactment and enforcement of Schedule II to the Income-tax Act, 1961. The recovery steps had been pursued without contemporaneous objection, the property had been sold and the sale had attained finality many years earlier, and the petitioner had already pursued civil remedies without success. In these circumstances, the belated jurisdictional challenge was held to be unsustainable, and the Court found no sufficient grievance to unsettle completed recovery action.

Conclusion: The challenge to the recovery proceedings was rejected and the writ petition was held not to be maintainable at this stage, in favour of the Revenue.

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