Deepak Narendran vs. The Deputy Commissioner Of State Tax

Facts

The petitioner, Deepak Narendran, proprietor of M/s. Narendra Regency, filed a writ petition before the High Court of Kerala. The petitioner was aggrieved by Ext.P1, an order of assessment passed under the KGST Act for the assessment year 2020-21. The petitioner had filed an appeal against this order as Ext.P2, along with a stay petition (Ext.P3), before the 2nd respondent, the Joint Commissioner (Appeals). The petitioner apprehended recovery steps being taken to realize the amount due under Ext.P1 while the stay petition was pending consideration. The writ petition sought a direction for the expeditious disposal of the stay petition.

Held

The Court held that the writ petition should be disposed of by directing the 2nd respondent to consider and pass orders on the petitioner's application for stay (Ext.P3). This consideration must be done after affording the petitioner an opportunity of hearing. The Court further directed that the 2nd respondent should pass these orders within a period of six weeks from the date of receipt of a certified copy of the judgment. Until such time as orders are passed on Ext.P3, the Court ordered that steps to recover the amount due under Ext.P1 order of assessment shall be kept in abeyance. The Court found that the limited nature of the relief sought by the petitioner warranted this approach.

Key Issues

1. Whether the 2nd respondent should be directed to consider and pass orders on the petitioner's stay petition (Ext.P3) expeditiously, and 2. Whether recovery steps pursuant to the assessment order (Ext.P1) should be kept in abeyance pending the disposal of the stay petition. The petitioner argued for the expeditious disposal of the stay petition and for a stay on recovery proceedings to prevent prejudice. The respondents (State GST Department) did not record any specific arguments in the judgment, but the Senior Government Pleader was heard.