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TMI Blog2003 (8) TMI 20X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e by the assessee. In order to recover money from any such person concerned, he is required to be notified by a notice. The said section authorises the person concerned, to whom such notice is issued, to object. In order to object, the person concerned, in accordance with the said section, is obliged to make a statement on oath. What statement can be made while making such objection has also been provided in the section itself. The statement may be either that the sum demanded or any part thereof is not due to the assessee or that he does not hold any money for or on account of the assessee. The said provision makes it abundantly clear that the moment such a notice is issued by the Assessing Officer, being the Tax Recovery Officer, he steps into the shoes of the assessee who is the creditor of the person notified. Any defence available to such a notified person to the creditor in relation to such claim may entail either of the two situations, which is required to be stated on oath, i.e., (i) the money is not due; or (ii) the person concerned is not holding the money. When steps were taken against the petitioner under section 226 of the Act, the petitioner filed a statement on oath ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ost similar purpose. The petitioner had also approached earlier this court and the matter was taken up before the Division Bench, when before the Division Bench it was contended that the Assessing Officer of VCVL was taking one stand and the Assessing Officer of the petitioner was taking yet another stand and, accordingly, that itself is a defence to the claim of the Tax Recovery Officer, Delhi. The Division Bench with anguish expressed that the petitioner must clear its own stand, i.e., which stand it would prefer-the stand of the Assessing Officer of VCVL or the stand of the Assessing Officer of the petitioner and, accordingly, permitted the petitioner to go back to the Commissioner of Income-tax for that purpose. Nothing to that effect was done before the Commissioner of Income-tax. On the last two occasions when the matter was heard I wanted the petitioner to disclose its stand and an adjournment for that purpose was also accorded. No stand has yet been taken. An affidavit has been filed instead, where it has been stated that the matter is under investigation for the purpose of advising the management as to which stand should be taken. Be that as it may, the investigation by t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... her, proceedings may be taken against him for the realisation of the amount as if the same was an arrear of tax due from him, in the manner provided in sections 222 to 225 of the Act and the notice shall have the same effect as an attachment of a debt by the Tax Recovery Officer in exercise of his power under section 222 of the Act. The Legislature, therefore, while making the garnishee at default a deemed assessee, has restricted the right to recover the money due from him within the four comers of sections 222 to 225 of the Act and did not extend the same also to section 226 of the Act. While interpreting any statute the plain and simple meaning thereof must be construed. A plain and simple reading of the contents of clause (x) of sub-section (3) of section 226 of the Act makes it abundantly clear that while framing the said clause the Legislature did not permit initiation of a garnishee proceeding against the creditors of the garnishee who has become an assessee in default. Therefore, the Tax Recovery Officer, Delhi, it appears to me, could not issue the notice under section 226(3) to APBCL for failure of the petitioner to pay in its capacity of garnishee. There cannot be any ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ch receipt and for no other purpose. The Tax Recovery Officer, Delhi, is thus directed to issue a further notice to APBCL mentioning that the notice issued earlier under section 226(3) dated February 24,2003, is in fact a notice of attachment. It shall be open to the Tax Recovery Officer, Delhi, to state in that notice that it shall be open to APBCL to pay the amount due to the petitioner by it and attached at his hand to the Tax Recovery Officer, Delhi, and in the event such payment is made, APBCL shall stand discharged from its debts due to the petitioner to that extent. It shall also be open to the Tax Recovery Officer, Delhi, to state in the said notice that in default of APBCL exercising the right to pay the attached amount to the Tax Recovery Officer, Delhi, within a time to be specified it, the Tax Recovery Officer, Delhi, shall take steps to sell such attached debt. Learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that when the statute has provided a volition of the debtor in sub-rule (3) of rule 26 of the said Schedule, it would not be proper on the part of the Tax Recovery Officer, Delhi, to ask the debtor to exercise such volition. When the statute gives a right to the debt ..... 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