IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) TUESDAY, THE FOURTH DAY OF MARCH, TWO THOUSAND AND EIGHT PRESENT THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE B.PRAKASH RAO and THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE P.S.NARAYANA WRIT PETITION NO : 4529 of 2008 Between: M/s. Vensai Project Ltd., 3rd Floor, Sriman Aishwarya Towers, Opp: NTR Gardens, Indira Park Road, Hyderabad. Rep. by its Manager ( F & A ), Sri M.Srinivas Vidyadhar. ..... PETITIONER AND 1 Commercial Tax Officer, Ashoknagar, Circle, Hyderabde. 2 Deputy Commercial Tax Officer, Ashoknagar Circle, Hyderabd. 3 Appellate Deputy Commissioner ( CT ), Secunderabad Division, Hyderabad 4 Joint Commissioner ( CT ) Legal, Hyderabad. .....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 a writ or order or direction particularly one in the nature of writ of Mandamus granting stay collection of the disputed tax of Rs. 3,06,412/- for the assessment year 2003-04 ( APGST ) arising in 08.02.2008 passed in CCT's Ref. No. LV(1)/1018/2008 pending disposal of the appeal before the third respondent or to pass Counsel for the Petitioner:MR.S.KRISHNA MURTHY Counsel for the Respondent No.: A.V.KRISHNA KOUNDINYA Special Standing Counsel for Commercial Taxes. The Court made the following : O R D E R (Per the Hon’ble Sri Justice B.Prakash Rao): Heard Sri S.Krishna Murthy, learned counsel appearing for the petitioner and Sri A.V.Krishna Koundinya, learned Standing Counsel appearing for the respondents and at their request, the main writ petition itself is taken up for disposal at the stage of admission. In this writ petition, the petitioner challenges the order of the fourth respondent dated 08-02-2008 refusing to grant stay of collection of the disputed tax, pending disposal of the appeal before the third respondent. The grievance of the petitioner is that having regard to the nature of the questions involved in the matter there is prima facie case in his favour and the fourth respondent ought not to have rejected his stay application. Hence, this writ petition. Having heard the learned counsel for the parties and also on perusal of the entire material available on record, since the writ is only against an interlocutory order, we refrain from going into the merits of the case and, in the interest of justice, we deem it more appropriate to grant stay, pending disposal of the appeal, subject to the condition of the petitioner depositing half of the disputed tax on or before 31-03-2008. Accordingly, we set aside the order dated 08-02-2008 passed by the fourth respondent and direct that there shall be stay of collection of the disputed tax, pending disposal of the appeal by the third respondent, subject to the condition of the petitioner depositing half of the disputed tax on or before 31-03-2008. It is needless to mention that if the petitioner has already paid any amount towards the disputed tax, while calculating half of the disputed tax, the amount already paid by the petitioner shall be given credit to. The third respondent shall take up the appeal for disposal, on merits, in accordance with law, after giving notice and opportunity to both sides. The writ petition is accordingly disposed of. No order as to costs. __________________ B.Prakash Rao, J Dated 4th March, 2008 __________________ P.S.Narayana,J vrn ..... REGISTRAR // TRUE COPY // SECTION OFFICER To 1 Commercial Tax Officer, Ashoknagar, Circle, Hyderabde. 2 Deputy Commercial Tax Officer, Ashoknagar Circle, Hyderabd. 3 Appellate Deputy Commissioner ( CT ), Secunderabad Division, Hyderabad 4 Joint Commissioner ( CT ) Legal, Hyderabad. 5 2CD copies Form-NIC-OGS/WP{KSRANI}