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TMI Blog2023 (6) TMI 581X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ssessee would be entitled to a stay against recovery of the balance amount of tax confirmed against it pending disposal of the appeal by the First Appellate Authority, the legislature does not prevent the Appellate Authority from insisting on a deposit of more than 20% of the disputed tax amount as a condition for a stay of recovery of balance amount pending disposal of the appeal, from an assessee who has chosen not to pay the 20% of the disputed amount of tax along with the collected tax or at least at the time of filing the appeal before the Appellate Authority. As per the statutory provisions, while the assessee has an option of payment of 20% of the disputed tax along with the collected tax, or at the time of filing the appeal befor ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the findings in this judgment are solely for the purposes of clarifying the scope and ambit of the statutory provision and not to affect the decisions already taken by the Appellate Authorities in the individual appeals. Appeal disposed off. - WA NO. 544 OF 2017, WA NO. 1202 OF 2017, WA NO. 1217 OF 2017 - - - Dated:- 8-6-2023 - HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE A.K. JAYASANKARAN NAMBIAR HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE MOHAMMED NIAS C.P. Appellants: By Adv Government Pleader Smt. M.M. Jasmine Respondent:(Petitioner In The Writ Petition) By Adv. Sri. Harisankar V. Menon Smt. Meera V. Menon By Adv Sri. Tomson T. Emmanuel By Adv. K.M. Firoz JUDGMENT A.K. JAYASANKARAN NAMBIAR, J. In these appeals preferred by the State agai ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 55(4) of the KVAT Act, as it then stood, notwithstanding the preferring of an appeal, the assessee was obliged to pay the tax or other amounts confirmed against him under the order against which the appeal was preferred. By a proviso to the said Section, the Appellate Authority was accorded the discretion to give such directions as it thought fit in regard to payment of the tax before the disposal of the appeal if the assessee furnished sufficient security to the satisfaction of the Appellate Authority in such form and manner as prescribed under the statutory provisions. Section 55 came to be amended through a notification dated 13.11.2016, whereby the following proviso was inserted after the existing proviso to Section 55 (4) of the KVAT A ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... appeal before us. 4. We have heard Smt. M.M. Jasmine, the learned Government Pleader for the State and Sri. Harisankar V. Menon, Sri. Tomson T. Emmanuel and Sri. K.M. Firoz, the learned counsel for the respondent assessee. 5. On a consideration of the facts and circumstances of the case and submissions made across the bar, we find force in the submissions of the learned Government Pleader that while on payment of 20% of the disputed amount of tax along with the collected tax, the assessee would be entitled to a stay against recovery of the balance amount of tax confirmed against it pending disposal of the appeal by the First Appellate Authority, the legislature does not prevent the Appellate Authority from insisting on a deposit of m ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ssee to pay the entire amount of tax confirmed against him by the assessing authority as a condition for maintaining an appeal before the First Appellate Authority subject to the discretion to be exercised by the Appellate Authority in terms of First Proviso of Section 55(4). We cannot, therefore, accept the finding of the learned single judge on the said issue. 6. Save for the above clarification with regard to the ambit of the 2nd proviso to Section 55 (4) of the Act as then stood, none of the other findings in the impugned judgment are interfered with. We also make it clear that since these appeals have been pending before this Court since 2017, and it is likely that the statutory appeals which were the subject matter of the Writ Peti ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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