An earlier registered bank security interest prevailed over a...

An earlier registered bank security interest prevailed over a later statutory tax lien where the bank's charge was created and registered in 2012 and the tax department's lien arose only in 2019. The Tribunal held that once the secured creditor elected under Section 52(1)(b) to realise its security outside the liquidation estate, and the liquidator verified that interest under Section 52(3), the later lien could not obstruct enforcement. It distinguished Rainbow Papers as not deciding priority against a prior perfected secured creditor. The liquidator's conduct was found bona fide and within statutory authority, as the tax claim had been admitted and later reclassified in line with the evolving legal position, and the adverse observations against him were expunged.

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