excise department, the claim of secured creditor would prevail over the crown debts. The UPFC rightly exercised its preferential rights in acquiring the property ... debt means the debts due to the State or the King. Such creditors, however, must be held to mean unsecured creditors. The principle of Crown
trite law that, unless there is preference given
to the Crown debt by a statute, the dues of a secured
creditor have preference over Crown ... trite
law that unless there is preference given to the Crown debt by a
statute, the dues of a secured creditor have preference over Crown
there was a demand of excise duty.
No doubt sovereign dues/crown debts have a preferential rights of
recovery over other ordinary and unsecured creditors ... claim of the secured creditor would normally prevail over the
crown debts also.
The Apex Court in Union of India and others Vs. SICOM
Limited
have seen that the common law doctrine of priority of crown debts would not extend to providing preference to crown debts over secured private debts ... provision does not deal with the doctrine of the priority of crown debts at all; it merely provides for the recovery of the arrears
those proceedings and claimed priority on the basis that the Crown debt has a priority over other debts.
3. The question which falls for consideration ... debt being a judgment debt or a debt arising out of statute, but the principle was that if the debts were of equal degree
made by the Government on the basis that as a Crown debt it was payable in priority to all other liabilities of defendants ... intention of the Code to recognise the doctrine of priority of Crown debts to any greater extent in connection with orders for costs passed under
subject. Crown debt means the
"debts due to the State or the King; debts which ha prerogative
entitles the Crown to claim priority ... creditors, however, must be held to mean
unsecured creditors. Principle of Crown debt as such pertains
to the common law principle. A common law which
should be no time limit for the
preferential payment of these crown debts and that
Section 230 of the Indian Companies Act should be
amended ... supra), while examining the issue of
priority of government dues or Crown debts over the dues of other
creditors, opined that the Crown
concerned with
the Common law doctrine of priority or precedence of
Crown debts vis-a-vis secured debts under the SFC Act of
1951. Therein ... held
that the common law principle of precedence conferred on
Crown debt was a law, within the meaning of Article 13 of
the Constitution
business may not come to the front. Applying the doctrine of
Crown Debt the assets of the unit could be attached or sold therefor. Crown ... have referred to the doctrine of Crown Debt not for its
applicability directly but to emphasise its importance in common law. A
statute, particularly
