Bank attachment cannot survive after assessment orders are quashed and no enforceable tax demand remains.

A bank attachment cannot continue once the underlying assessment orders have been set aside and no subsisting demand or enforceable order remains against the assessee. The Madras High Court held that the attachment, which derived its basis from the quashed assessments, had no independent footing and was therefore unsustainable. The attachment was set aside, while the tax authority was permitted to proceed afresh in the remanded proceedings in accordance with law and within the stipulated time. The assessee was directed to cooperate in the remanded matters, and the authority retained liberty to act if the assessee failed to cooperate or if adverse orders were later passed.

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Issues: Whether the bank attachment could continue after the assessment orders had already been set aside and no subsisting order against the petitioner remained.

Analysis: The attachment order was earlier in time than the subsequent writ proceedings in which the assessment orders for the relevant periods had been quashed and the matters remitted to the authorities. Once the foundational assessment orders ceased to operate, the continued attachment of the bank account had no independent basis and could not be sustained. At the same time, the petitioner was directed to cooperate in the remanded proceedings, and the authority was given liberty to proceed in accordance with law if the petitioner failed to cooperate or if adverse orders were later passed in the remanded tax cases.

Conclusion: The bank attachment was unsustainable and was set aside; the authority was directed to complete the remanded proceedings within the stipulated time.

Final Conclusion: The writ petition was disposed of by nullifying the continued bank attachment and permitting the tax authority to proceed afresh in the remanded matters in accordance with law.

Ratio Decidendi: A bank attachment cannot survive once the underlying assessment orders have been set aside and no subsisting demand or enforceable order remains against the assessee.

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