Provisional attachment powers cannot be extended across fiscal statutes without express authority, making the bank attachment unsustainable.

Provisional attachment of a bank account under the Gujarat Value Added Tax Act, 2005 could not be sustained where the substantial disputed liability related to entry tax under the Gujarat Tax on Entry of Specified Goods into Local Areas Act, 2001 and the assessment remained pending. Section 45(1) of the VAT Act permits provisional attachment only for that statute's assessment or reassessment process, and the power could not be extended by implication to the separate entry tax enactment. The assessee's substantial deposit toward the estimated liability further weighed against continued attachment. The attachment order was therefore set aside.

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Issues: Whether the authorities could provisionally attach the assessee's bank account under the Gujarat Value Added Tax Act, 2005 when the substantial demand related to entry tax under the Gujarat Tax on Entry of Specified Goods into Local Areas Act, 2001 and the assessment was still pending.

Analysis: Section 45(1) of the Gujarat Value Added Tax Act, 2005 permits provisional attachment pending assessment or reassessment to protect the revenue's interest. The entry tax enactment contains no corresponding provision conferring such power. A power available under one statute cannot be extended to a different enactment by implication, especially where the disputed liability substantially consisted of entry tax. The assessee had already made a substantial deposit towards the estimated liability, which weighed against continued attachment.

Conclusion: The provisional attachment of the bank account was unauthorized and could not be sustained.

Final Conclusion: The impugned attachment order was set aside and the petition succeeded to that extent.

Ratio Decidendi: Provisional attachment can be exercised only when the governing statute expressly confers that power, and a power under one fiscal enactment cannot be transposed to another absent statutory authority.

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