Call book adjournment pending connected High Court proceedings upheld; departmental circular held to be only an administrative instruction.

The departmental circular was treated as an administrative instruction without statutory force, so it could not by itself control the adjudicatory course. The Commissioner (Appeals) was permitted to keep the matter in the call book pending the High Court's decision in a connected proceeding arising from the same cause of action, because the order merely deferred consideration and did not decide the dispute on merits. In these circumstances, no legal infirmity was found in the transfer to the call book, and the appeal was dismissed as lacking merit.

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Issues: Whether the Commissioner (Appeals) could transfer the matter to the call book pending the outcome of proceedings before the High Court, and whether the appeal was sustainable on the basis of the departmental circular.

Analysis: The circular relied upon was treated as an administrative instruction and not as having statutory force. The order under challenge did not decide the dispute on merits but merely adjourned the matter to await the decision of the High Court in a connected proceeding arising out of the same cause of action. In such circumstances, no infirmity was found in the Commissioner (Appeals)'s course of action warranting interference.

Conclusion: The appeal was held to be without merit and was dismissed.

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