Sick company moratorium bars excise detention and attachment proceedings against property without Board consent.

Once a company is registered as sick and the Board directs revival steps, Section 22(1) of the Sick Industrial Companies (Special Provisions) Act, 1985 creates a moratorium against execution, distress and other coercive recovery actions against its property unless the Board consents. A detention and attachment notice under the Central Excise Rules was treated as a coercive recovery measure and therefore fell within that statutory bar. The notice was suspended and could not be proceeded with further without the Board's consent, while recoveries of pre-existing dues remained subject to the same embargo.

---

---

Issues: Whether, after a reference under the Sick Industrial Companies (Special Provisions) Act, 1985 was registered and the company was declared sick, the detention and attachment notice issued under the Central Excise Rules could continue or be acted upon in view of the statutory bar under Section 22(1) of the Act.

Analysis: Once the Board declared the company a sick industrial company and directed steps for revival, the statutory consequences under Section 22(1) attached. That provision bars proceedings for execution, distress or like coercive recovery against the properties of the sick company, except with the consent of the Board. The detention notice represented a coercive recovery measure against the company's property and therefore fell within the protective umbrella of the moratorium created by Section 22(1). The judgment distinguished liabilities arising after the revival-related orders from recoveries of pre-existing dues, and held that the latter remained subject to the statutory embargo.

Conclusion: The detention and attachment notice stood suspended and could not be proceeded with further except with the consent of the Board.

---