BABY Vs. STATE OF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE question for consideration is whether an employer from whom amounts are due under the Kerala Toddy Workers Welfare Fund Act, 1969 ('the Welfare Fund Act') is liable to be arrested under S. 65 of the Kerala revenue Recovery Act, 1968 ('the R. R. Act' ). THE petitioner is an employer from whom a sum of Rs. 25,771/-is said to be due under the Welfare Fund Act. Notice was accordingly issued to him by the District Collector in terms of S. 65 of the R. R Act. THE petitioner filed his objections to the notice, but the collector has not yet issued a warrant for his arrest.

(2.) COUNSEL for the petitioner Shri. O. V. Radhakrishnan says that the District Collector has no jurisdiction to issue warrant for the arrest of the petitioner in respect of a liability which has arisen under the welfare Fund Act. This contention is based on the assumption that amounts due under the Welfare Fund Act are not public revenue due on land and therefore s. 65 of the R. R. Act can have no application. COUNSEL points out the distinction between S. 9 of the Welfare Fund Act and S. 28 of the Abkari Act. While the former provision does not say that moneys due under the Act are deemed to be public revenue due on land, the latter provision says that moneys due under the Act are treated as if they were arrears of land revenue. Based on this distinction counsel says that, in the absence of a deeming provision, money due under the Welfare Fund Act cannot be treated as if they were arrears of land revenue For recovery of such amounts, counsel says, S. 65 of the R. R. Act can be of no avail.

(3.) S. 65 of the R. R. Act is attracted only when there are arrears of public revenue due on land. However S. 68 of this Act is applicable for recovery of certain other amounts due to the Government. It says: "68 Application of the Act for the recovery of certain other dues to Government. (i) All sums declared by any other law for the time being in force to be recoverable as arrear of public revenue due on the land or land revenue:. . . . . . . . . . . . may be recovered under the provisions of this This means that, if by any other law amounts are recoverable as arrears of public revenue due on land or land revenue, such amounts fall within the ambit of S. 68, and are therefore attracted by all the provisions of the R. R. Act relating to recovery. One of the modes of enforcing recovery of public revenue due on land is by the arrest of the defaulter himself in circumstances in which arrest is permissible under S. 65 of the R. R. Act. S. 5 of this Act refers to arrest as one of the modes of recovery.