STATE OF KERALA Vs. E P MATHEW

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This petition by the State of Kerala questions the correctness of the order of the District Munsiff of Trivandrum in C.M.P. No. 2215 of 1957 in O.S. No. 477 of 1956. The petition states the facts necessary to appreciate the contention urged before us as follows:

(2.) The State does not claim any charge in respect of the amount due from the fourth respondent by way of sales tax. The only question for determination is whether when the amounts due to the State and to respondents 1 to 3 are all unsecured, the State is entitled to a priority or not.

(3.) The priority claimed has always been considered at any rate since Lord Coke enunciated the rule in Quicks case (9 Rep. 129b.) as one of the established prerogatives of the Crown in English Law. In Rex v. Wells (16 East. 278), in a passage oft quoted, Macdonald, C.B., said: