Recovery of disputed tax during appeal remains permissible absent a complied interim order under the sales tax recovery framework.

During the pendency of an appeal against an assessment order, recovery of disputed tax under the Karnataka Sales Tax Act remained permissible unless the appellate authority had issued an interim direction regarding payment and that direction had been complied with. The statutory requirement to pay admitted tax for admission of the appeal did not suspend recovery of the contested liability merely because an appeal was filed. The proviso limiting recovery applied only where a complied interim order existed; absence of such an order, or rejection of interim relief, did not bar recovery. Decisions cited by the assessee were distinguished as dealing with different contexts.

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Issues: Whether, during the pendency of an appeal against an assessment order, recovery proceedings for the disputed tax could be initiated or continued under the recovery provision in the Karnataka Sales Tax Act when no interim direction had been obtained or complied with.

Analysis: The statutory scheme required payment of admitted tax as a condition for entertaining the appeal, while the disputed tax remained payable under the assessment order notwithstanding the filing of the appeal. The proviso to the recovery provision operated only where the appellate authority had issued an interim direction regarding payment and the assessee had complied with it. On a plain reading, the absence of such an interim direction, or rejection of a request for one, did not suspend the statutory power to recover the disputed amount. The cited decisions did not assist the assessee because they concerned the incidental power to grant interim orders or the recovery of admitted tax in a different context.

Conclusion: Recovery proceedings for the disputed tax were permissible during the pendency of the appeal in the absence of a complied interim order, and the contention raised by the assessee was rejected.

Ratio Decidendi: The proviso protecting an appellant from recovery proceedings applies only when the appellate authority has made an order regarding payment of tax or other amount and that order has been complied with; mere pendency of an appeal does not, by itself, bar recovery of disputed tax.

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