Writ petitions disposed to let statutory appeals proceed independently, with rights left open and interim protection continued.

The writ petitions were disposed of without adjudication on merits because the same issues were already pending in statutory appeals before the appellate tribunal. The Court accepted that the parties should be relegated to that forum and directed that the tribunal decide the appeals independently, without being influenced by observations made in the writ proceedings. All rights and contentions were left open, and the existing interim protection was continued until disposal of the appeals.

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Issues: Whether the writ petitions should be disposed of so that the assessee may pursue the pending statutory appeals before the appellate tribunal.

Analysis: The petitions were not decided on merits. The parties accepted that the issues raised were already pending in appeals before the Karnataka Appellate Tribunal under the statutory appellate provision. The Court accepted the course of relegating the parties to that forum and followed the approach adopted in earlier connected matters, while ensuring that the appellate authority would decide the appeals independently and without being influenced by any observations from the writ proceedings. The Court also preserved the continuance of the existing interim order till disposal of the appeals.

Conclusion: The writ petitions were disposed of to enable adjudication before the appellate tribunal, with all rights and contentions left open and the interim protection continued until the appeals are decided.

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