Provisional attachment expires after one year and cannot be revived by a fresh restraint on the same basis.

Provisional attachment under the CGST/KGST regime is a drastic measure and must be confined to the statutory one-year limit. Once the attachment lapses by operation of law, the Revenue cannot treat the expired order as continuing or sustain a fresh attachment on the same basis. The statutory protection is intended to operate automatically, without requiring repeated writ litigation to secure release of the restraint. The effect is that continued attachment after expiry is inconsistent with the statutory scheme and the rule of law; the account may be operated unless other independent proceedings exist.

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Issues: Whether a provisional attachment order under section 83 of the CGST/KGST regime can continue beyond the statutory period of one year, and whether a fresh attachment can be sustained after such lapse.

Analysis: The controlling principle applied was that provisional attachment is a drastic power and the statutory scheme must be construed so that the one-year limit is effective. Once the attachment lapses by operation of law, the Revenue cannot treat the expired order as surviving, nor can it revive the restraint through another attachment order on the same basis. The reasoning also emphasised that statutory protection should operate without requiring repeated resort to writ proceedings, and that continued restraint after lapse would be inconsistent with the rule of law.

Conclusion: The provisional attachment could not subsist beyond one year, and no fresh attachment could be sustained after its lapse; the challenge succeeded and the petitioner was entitled to operate the account unless other proceedings existed.

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