BALAJI TRADING CO Vs. CTO DEPUTY

JUDGEMENT

(1.) WHEN these batch of writ petitions came up for admission, this court held that the High Court should not normally interfere with the discretionary orders passed by the appellate authority constituted under the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act, which shall hereinafter be referred to as "the Act". Learned counsel appearing for the petitioners in these writ petitions took up the stand that the provisions contained under Section 31(5) of the Act confer discretionary powers on the appellate authority and, therefore, it should be exercised judiciously and the authority must pass speaking orders. It is stated that in most of these cases, sufficient security was furnished. But, in spite of that, the appellate authority refused to grant absolute stay without assigning any reasons, following the decision of the Supreme Court in Assistant Collector of Central Excise v. Dunlop India Ltd. . Learned counsel attempted to distinguish the said case on facts. In view of this position, the learned Additional Government pleader for taxes was also heard.

(2.) BEFORE dealing with the applicability of the said decision of the Supreme Court to the facts of the present case, we shall look at the statutory provisions regarding the grant of stay pending disposal of the appeal. Section 31 (5) of the Act reads as follows :

(3.) THE learned judge further observed as follows :