IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) TUESDAY, THE SIXTEENTH DAY OF NOVEMBER TWO THOUSAND AND FOUR PRESENT THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE BILAL NAZKI And THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE S.ANANDA REDDY WRIT PETITION NO : 20794 of 2004 Between: M/s. Aravind Agencies, Kamareddy, Nizamabad District, rep by its Proprietrix, Ms K. Rama Devi. ..... PETITIONER AND 1 The Addl. Commissioner of Commercial Taxes (Legal)(FAC) Office of the Commissioner, Station Road, Nampally, Hyderabad. 2 The Commercial Tax Officer, Kamareddy, Nizamabad District. .....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, preferably one in the nature of a Writ of Mandamus, declaring the action of the 1st respondent in rejecting the stay application for the assessment year 2001-01(APGST) in his proceedings CCT's Ref .L.III(1)/1065/2004, Dt. 13-9-2004 (served on the petitioner on 2-11-2004) pending appeal before the Appellate Dy. Commissioner (CT), Secunderabad Division, as illegal, arbitrary and unconstitutional besides being against the principles of natural justice. Counsel for the Petitioner: MR.BANGINATI NARENDER Counsel for the Respondent Nos.1 & 2: GP FOR COMMERCIAL TAXES The Court, at the stage of admission, made the following: ORAL ORDER: (Per: The Hon’ble Mr. Justice Bilal Nazki) Heard learned Counsel for the parties. With their consent, the writ petition is disposed of at this stage. The controversy is that pending appeal, application for stay was dismissed by the competent authority. We have gone through the record and heard learned Counsel for the parties. We feel that the interest of justice would have been met if stay was granted pending appeal, subject to deposit of half of the liability. Therefore, we set aside the order of the authority and direct that half of the disputed tax liability shall be paid by the petitioner within a period of eight weeks. Any amount already paid shall be deducted from the amount to be deposited. For eight weeks, there shall be an unconditional stay and the stay shall continue till disposal of the appeal, provided the amount is deposited within eight weeks. The deposit of amount shall be without prejudice to the rights of the petitioner in the appeal. Writ Petition is disposed of accordingly. No costs. ______________________ BILAL NAZKI, J ______________________ S. ANANDA REDDY, J Dt. 16-11-2004 Pvks/* Nb: Furnish operative portion by wire at party’s cost. B/o pvks/* To 1 The Addl. Commissioner of Commercial Taxes (Legal)(FAC) Office of the Commissioner, Station Road, Nampally, Hyderabad. 2 The Commercial Tax Officer, Kamareddy, Nizamabad District. 3.2CCs to the Government Pleader for Commercial Taxes, A.P. High Court Buildings, Hyderabad (OUT). 4.2CD copies Form-NIC-OGS/WP{RLD}