Ms Broadstar Food INDIA PVT LTD vs. Principal Commissioner

Facts

The appellant, M/s Broadstar Foods India Pvt. Ltd., filed a Special Appeal before the High Court of Uttarakhand at Nainital. This appeal was directed against an order dated 07.04.2026, passed by the Single Judge Bench in Writ Petition (M/S) No. 654 of 2026. The writ court, while entertaining the writ petition, had only invited a counter affidavit from the respondents and had fixed 20.05.2026 as the next date for hearing. No decision on the merits of the case had been made at that stage.

Held

The Court held that an intra-court appeal is not maintainable against an interim order of a Single Judge Bench that has not decided any issue on merits, but has merely invited a counter affidavit. The reasoning was that since nothing had been decided on merits, the appeal against such an order was not maintainable. The Court dismissed the Special Appeal. However, it granted liberty to the petitioner (appellant) to press the pending stay application in the writ petition before the Single Judge Bench when the matter is listed next. Any pending applications were also disposed of.

Key Issues

1. Whether an intra-court appeal is maintainable against an interim order of a Single Judge Bench of the High Court that merely invites a counter affidavit and does not decide any issue on merits. The appellant contended that the appeal was maintainable. The respondents, the Principal Commissioner, Central Goods and Services Tax & others, did not appear to have made any specific arguments on the maintainability of the appeal as the court dismissed it on that ground. The judgment does not record any specific arguments from the respondents regarding the maintainability of the intra-court appeal.