Fazil.M. vs. The State Tax Officer - Kerala High Court, 31 January 2020

IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM PRESENT THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE ALEXANDER THOMAS FRIDAY, THE 31ST DAY OF JANUARY 2020 / 11TH MAGHA, 1941 WP(C).No.2701 OF 2020(K) PETITIONER/S: FAZIL.M., AGED 47 YEARS PROPRIETOR, M/S. F.M.ENTERPRISES, PADA NORTH, KARUNAGAPPALLY, KOLLAM DISTRICT. BY ADVS. SRI.HARISANKAR V. MENON SMT.MEERA V.MENON SMT.K.KRISHNA RESPONDENT/S: 1 THE STATE TAX OFFICER, STATE GST DEPARTMENT, KARUNAGAPPALLY-690518. 2 THE DY. COMMISSIONER (APPEALS), STATE GOODS AND SERVICES TAX DEPARTMENT, KOLLAM- 691001. OTHER PRESENT: SMT.M.M.JASMINE, GOVT.PLEADER THIS WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) HAVING COME UP FOR ADMISSION ON 31.01.2020, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING:

WP(C).No.2701 OF 2020(K) 2 ALEXANDER THOMAS, J. ----------------------------------------- W.P.(C.) No. 2701 of 2020 ----------------------------------------- Dated this the 31st day of January, 2020 JUDGMENT Against Ext.P1 order, the petitioner has filed Ext.P2 appeal and Ext.P4 stay petition along with Ext.P3 petition to condone delay. The petitioner's grievance is that during the pendency of the stay petition, coercive recovery proceedings have been initiated by the assessing authority for recovery of the disputed amounts.

Heard Sri.Harisankar V.Menon, learned counsel appearing for the petitioner and Smt.M.M.Jasmine, learned Government Pleader appearing for the respondents.

After hearing both sides and after taking note of the facts and circumstances of the case, it is ordered in the interest of justice that the 2 nd respondent shall take up the matters in Ext.P3 delay condonation application and Ext.P4 stay application filed in Ext.P2 appeal and after affording reasonable opportunity of being heard to the petitioner through their authorised representative/ counsel, if any, shall pass orders on those applications without much delay, preferably within a period of two months from the date of production of a certified copy of this judgment. Until

WP(C).No.2701 OF 2020(K) 3 orders are thus passed on the abovesaid delay condonation and stay application, further coercive steps for enforcement of the impugned order will be kept in abeyance. With these observations and directions, the above Writ Petition (Civil) stands finally disposed of. ALEXANDER THOMAS, JUDGE SKS

WP(C).No.2701 OF 2020(K) 4 APPENDIX PETITIONER'S/S EXHIBITS: EXHIBIT P1 COPY OF ORDER ISSUED BY THE 1ST RESPONDENT FOR THE YEAR 2014-15 DATED 26.11.2019. EXHIBIT P2 COPY OF APPEAL FILED BY THE PETITIONER BEFORE THE 2ND RESPONDENT 2014-15 DATED 21.01.2020. EXHIBIT P3 COPY OF DELAY PETITION FILED BY THE PETITIONER BEFORE THE 2ND RESPONDENT DATED 21.01.2020. EXHIBIT P4 COPY OF STAY PETITION FILED BY THE PETITIONER BEFORE THE 2ND RESPONDENT DATED 21.01.2020.