Infructuous writ petitions should not yield merits findings on taxability; withdrawn instructions left the issue open for assessment.

Once the State assured withdrawal of the impugned instructions, no issue survived in the writ petition and the High Court should not have ruled on the taxability of the supply transactions under the Haryana General Sales Tax Act and the Central Sales Tax Act. Findings on a question that had become infructuous could not stand, and the proper course was for the Assessing Authorities to decide the taxability independently and in accordance with law, without being influenced by the withdrawn instructions or by the High Court's earlier opinion. The merits observations were therefore vacated and the writ petition was treated as infructuous.

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Issues: Whether the High Court ought to have decided the merits of the taxability of the supply transactions after recording that the writ petition had become infructuous.

Analysis: Once the State Government assured the High Court that the impugned instructions would be withdrawn, no further issue survived for adjudication in the writ petition. The High Court was not justified in going on to pronounce upon whether the transactions amounted to sales liable to tax under the Haryana General Sales Tax Act and the Central Sales Tax Act. Findings recorded on a question that no longer required decision could not be allowed to stand, and the proper course was for the Assessing Authorities to consider the matter independently and in accordance with law, without being influenced by the withdrawn instructions or by any opinion previously expressed.

Conclusion: The High Court's observations and findings on the merits were vacated and the writ petition was treated as infructuous.

Final Conclusion: The appeal succeeded to the extent that the High Court's merits determination was set aside, leaving the taxability issue open for consideration by the Assessing Authorities in accordance with law.

Ratio Decidendi: A court should not decide the merits of a dispute once the matter has become infructuous, and any findings recorded on such a non-surviving issue may be vacated.

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