Provisional tax attachment cannot reach a member's separate property for HUF dues absent strict statutory conditions.

Provisional attachment under the Gujarat Value Added Tax Act was confined to property belonging to the dealer, so the HUF's tax dues could not be recovered from the separate property of a member. The court noted that the attached asset belonged to the wife of the karta, had been purchased from gifted funds, and was her separate property; sections 57(2) and 58 did not apply because there had been no partition of HUF property and no discontinuance of business, and neither provision supported attachment during pending assessment proceedings. The attachment was therefore invalid, and the appeal failed.

---

---

Issues: Whether property standing in the name of a member of a Hindu Undivided Family could be provisionally attached for recovery of the HUF's dues under the Gujarat Value Added Tax Act, 2003, and whether sections 57 and 58 of that Act permitted such attachment.

Analysis: Section 45 authorises provisional attachment only of property belonging to the dealer. The dealer in the present case was the HUF, whereas the attached property belonged to the wife of the karta and was found, on facts, to have been purchased from gifted funds and to be her separate property. Section 57(2) applies only where HUF property has been partitioned amongst members, and section 58 applies on discontinuance of business; neither condition was satisfied. Both provisions also contemplate crystallised liabilities and not liability during pending assessment proceedings. The Act treats an HUF as a separate taxable entity, and that status does not justify attachment of the individual property of a member for the HUF's dues.

Conclusion: The attachment of the member's property was invalid and the appeal failed.

Ratio Decidendi: Provisional attachment for tax recovery can be made only against property belonging to the dealer, and where the dealer is an HUF, the separate property of an individual member cannot be attached unless the statutory conditions creating member liability are strictly satisfied.

---