Stay under section 42-A requires a pending question of law before the specified forum; absent that, the application fails.

Section 42-A of the Madhya Pradesh General Sales Tax Act, 1958 permits a stay of assessment proceedings only when a question of law relating to the assessment is already pending before the Commissioner, the Tribunal, or the High Court. The provision operates to preserve the assessment until that legal issue is decided by the competent forum. Where no such pending question existed before any specified authority, the jurisdictional foundation for invoking the stay power was absent, and the application was not maintainable. On that basis, the stay request was rightly rejected.

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Issues: Whether the application for stay under section 42-A of the Madhya Pradesh General Sales Tax Act, 1958 was maintainable when no question of law was pending before the Commissioner, the Tribunal, or the High Court.

Analysis: Section 42-A empowers the Commissioner to stay assessment proceedings only where a question of law relating to the assessment is already pending before one of the specified authorities. The object of the provision is to preserve the assessment until the legal issue is decided by the competent forum. On the facts pleaded, no such pending proceeding existed before any authority, and the application therefore lacked the foundational condition required for invoking the power to stay.

Conclusion: The application under section 42-A was not maintainable and was rightly rejected.

Ratio Decidendi: The power to stay proceedings under section 42-A can be exercised only if a question of law is actually pending before one of the specified forums; absent that jurisdictional fact, the application is misconceived.

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