Tax liability on directors under MVAT cannot extend to a public company's non-executive director by implication.

Section 44(6) of the Maharashtra Value Added Tax Act, 2002 could not be used to fasten joint and several liability on a non-executive director where the defaulting entity was a public company. The provision is expressly subject to the Companies Act, 2013, and its liability scheme, read with the Companies Act's distinction between private and public companies, confines that liability to directors of a private company. On that construction, the statutory basis for attaching the petitioner's bank account was absent, and the attachment lacked legal sanction.

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Issues: Whether Section 44(6) of the Maharashtra Value Added Tax Act, 2002 could be invoked to fasten liability and sustain attachment of the petitioner's bank account where the defaulting entity was a public company and the petitioner was only a non-executive director.

Analysis: Section 44(6) is expressly made subject to the Companies Act, 2013. The expression "subject to" gives overriding effect to the latter statute in case of inconsistency. The Companies Act, 2013 draws a clear legal distinction between a private company and a public company through its definitional and incorporation provisions. Reading those provisions together, the liability contemplated by Section 44(6) is confined to directors of a private company and cannot be extended to a public company by implication. As the company in question was a public company, the statutory basis for fastening joint and several liability on the petitioner was absent, and the consequential bank attachment lacked legal sanction.

Conclusion: The invocation of Section 44(6) against the petitioner was unsustainable, and the attachment of the bank account could not be maintained.

Ratio Decidendi: A liability provision in a tax statute that is expressly subject to the Companies Act and is confined to a private company cannot be applied to a public company or its director by analogy or implication.

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