Statutory bar on attaching collected tax funds shields dealer-retained tax amounts from execution proceedings.

Amounts collected as tax and retained by a dealer before they become due to the Government are protected from attachment under the statutory bar in the Kerala General Sales Tax Act and the Kerala Value Added Tax Act, which were treated as in pari materia. The prohibition was applied to garnishee and execution proceedings, with the result that a court or authority cannot pass an order attaching such tax monies. The impugned attachment order was therefore held inconsistent with the statutory scheme and unsustainable.

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Issues: Whether amounts collected as tax and retained by the dealer could be attached in execution of a decree in view of the statutory bar under the sales tax and value added tax enactments.

Analysis: The provisions governing attachment under Section 49A of the Kerala General Sales Tax Act, 1963 and Section 79A of the Kerala Value Added Tax Act, 2003 were treated as in pari materia. On that basis, it was held that no court or authority can pass an order attaching tax collected by a person and kept by him before it becomes due to the Government. The statutory prohibition was applied to garnishee proceedings, and the impugned attachment order was found to be inconsistent with that bar.

Conclusion: The attachment of the tax amount was impermissible, and the order permitting such attachment was unsustainable.

Ratio Decidendi: Amounts collected as tax and retained before becoming due to the Government are protected from attachment by a statutory bar, including in execution proceedings.

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