IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) MONDAY, THE TWENTIETH DAY OF OCTOBER TWO THOUSAND AND EIGHT PRESENT THE HON'BLE SMT JUSTICE T.MEENA KUMARI & THE HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE RAMESH RANGANATHAN WRIT PETITION NO : 22731 of 2008 Between: M/s. V. Venkata Ramana Rao Rep.by its Proprietor,V.Venkata Ramana Rao,S/o. Achyuta Rao Jagtial. Karimnagar Dist. ..... PETITIONER AND 1 The Addl. Commissioner of Commercial Taxes Office of Commissioner of Commercial Taxes: C.T. Complex, M.J. Road, Nampally, Hyderabad. 2 The Dy. Commissioner of Commercial Taxes Karimnagar Division Karimnagar Dist. 3 The Commercial Tax Officer Jagtial Karimnagar Dist. .....RESPONDENTS Petition under Article 226 of the constitution of India praying that in the circumstances stated in the Aﬃdavit ﬁled herein the High Court will be pleased to issue an appropriate writ, order or direction particularly in the nature of Writ of Mandamus declaring the action of the 1st Respondent in rejecting the stay petition ﬁled by the Petitioner contrary to the provisions of Section 5F of the APGST Act and Rule 6(2) (a to 1) of the APGST Rules and also as illegal, arbitrary, unjust and consequently forbear the 3rd Respondent from collecting the disputed tax till disposal of the appeal for the assessment years 2001-02, 2002-03 and 2003-04 Rs.1,26,470/-, Rs.1,30,430/- and Rs.5,46,606/- by the Sales Tax Appellate Tribunal, Hyderabad and grant such other relief or reliefs as are deemed to be ﬁt and proper in the circumstances of the case. Counsel for the Petitioner: SRI M.V.J.K.KUMAR Counsel for the RespondentS.: MR.A.V.KRISHNA KAUNDINYA (SPL.SC FOR CT) The Court made the following : THE HON'BLE SMT JUSTICE T.MEENA KUMARI & THE HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE RAMESH RANGANATHAN WRIT PETITION NO : 22731 of 2008 ORDER: (Per Hon’ble Smt. Justice T. Meena Kumari) The present writ petition is ﬁled by the petitioner seeking to declare the action of the 1st Respondent in rejecting stay petition as illegal and arbitrary and consequently, to restrain the 3rd Respondent from collecting the disputed tax till disposal of the appeal pending before the Sales Tax Appellate Tribunal, Hyderabad, for the assessment years 2001-02, 2002-03 and 2003-04. The brief facts of the case are that aggrieved by the revised order passed by the 2nd respondent for the assessment years question, an appeal has been preferred before the Sales Tax Appellate Tribunal, Hyderabad and the same pending. The petitioner also ﬁled a stay application before the 1st respondent. But the said application was dismissed. Taking advantage of the same, the 1st respondent is trying to take coercive steps for collection of the disputed tax. Hence, the petitioner filed the present writ petition. Heard the learned Counsel for the petitioner and the learned Standing Counsel for Commercial Tax and perused the material available on record. The learned Counsel for the petitioner contended that against the revised order passed by the 2nd respondent, an appeal has been preferred and the same is pending and at this juncture, if the relief as to the stay of collection of the disputed tax is not entertained and if the disputed tax in question is recovered during the pendency of the appeal before the Tribunal, the very purpose of ﬁling the appeal, which is a statutory remedy that is available to the aggrieved party, would be defeated. In the facts and circumstances of the case and in view of the pendency of the appeal before the Tribunal, without expressing any opinion on the merits of the case, We feel it a ﬁt case wherein stay can be granted, but subject to imposition of certain conditions. Accordingly, there shall be stay of recovery of the disputed tax till disposal of the appeal pending before the Sales Tax Appellate Tribunal, subject to the condition of the petitioner depositing 50% of the disputed tax of each assessment year, within a period of six (6) weeks from today. However, it is made clear that the amount, if any already paid, shall be given credit to the above stipulated sum. Subject to the above direction, the writ petition is disposed of. No order as to costs. ________________________ Justice T. Meena Kumari ___________________________ Justice Ramesh Ranganathan Date: 20th October, 2008 Nn/gurc. THE HON'BLE SMT JUSTICE T.MEENA KUMARI and THE HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE RAMESH RANGANATHAN WRIT PETITION No:22731 OF 2008 (Order delivered by the Hon’ble Smt. Justice T. Meena Kumari) 20/10/2008