Garnishee recovery stayed temporarily as the court balanced revenue enforcement with operational hardship and pending revision remedy.

A garnishee attachment under the Jharkhand Value Added Tax Act was examined against the backdrop of pending revision proceedings and the availability of a statutory remedy. The Court balanced revenue recovery against the assessee's operational hardship, noting that immediate coercive action could disrupt functioning and affect employees. It therefore granted temporary protection from coercive recovery, while requiring the assessee to make phased payments and continue with the revision. The Commissioner was directed to decide the revision expeditiously, and the garnishee order was kept in abeyance for a limited period.

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Issues: Whether the garnishee order issued under Section 46 of the Jharkhand Value Added Tax Act, 2005 could be kept in abeyance pending disposal of the revision proceedings and while the assessee pursued the available statutory remedy.

Analysis: The disputed recovery was being enforced while one revision was stated to be pending and another was stated to have been disposed of, and the Court noted the availability of an effective statutory remedy under the Jharkhand Value Added Tax Act, 2005. At the same time, the Court accepted that immediate coercive recovery through garnishee attachment would adversely affect the petitioner's functioning and employees, particularly because the petitioner's funding flowed through Damodar Valley Corporation. Balancing the revenue's interest with the petitioner's operational concerns, the Court granted temporary protection against coercive recovery and coupled it with directions for phased payment and expeditious disposal of the pending revision.

Conclusion: The garnishee order was kept in abeyance for four months, the petitioner was directed to make payment in instalments and to pursue the revision, and the Commissioner was directed to decide the revision expeditiously.

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