Stay application in pending estate duty appeal must be decided before recovery can proceed.

Where an appeal against an estate duty demand is pending, the appellate authority must exercise its statutory discretion on the stay application under section 73(4) and cannot leave the request undecided or bypass its jurisdiction. The court noted that recovery should not continue while such relief remains pending, and that the stay request had to be decided in accordance with law. The writ petition therefore secured a direction to the Appellate Controller to determine the pending stay application promptly, with interim protection against recovery until that decision.

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Issues: Whether the appellate authority was required to decide the stay application pending the appeal and whether recovery could continue without such decision.

Analysis: The statutory scheme under section 73(4) of the Estate Duty Act indicates that, during pendency of an appeal, the Controller has discretion to treat the accountable person as not being in default and to suspend demand. The Court found that the stay application should have been decided by the appellate authority in accordance with law, and that the jurisdiction to consider such relief could not be bypassed by referring the matter elsewhere without a proper order being shown.

Conclusion: The stay application had to be decided by the Appellate Controller, Estate Duty, Lucknow, and recovery was ordered to remain stayed until that decision.

Final Conclusion: The writ petition resulted in a direction to the appellate authority to decide the pending stay application promptly, with interim protection against recovery until that decision.

Ratio Decidendi: Where an appeal against estate duty demand is pending, the appellate authority must exercise its statutory discretion on a stay application in accordance with law, and recovery should not proceed until that application is decided.

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