Stay granted on tax order pending affidavit exchange in writ petition challenge

The High Court of Calcutta granted a stay on Order-in-Original No. 10/Commr./ST/BOL/19-20, issued on August 01, 2019, until March 31, 2020, following a writ petition challenging the order. The court drew an adverse inference due to the absence of the responding party. The judge highlighted the significance of exchanging affidavits for a fair decision and directed the respondents to file an affidavit-in-opposition within four weeks, allowing the petitioners two weeks to respond. The case was scheduled for a hearing in the monthly list of cases for January 2019.

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Issues: Challenge to Order-in-Original, Adverse Inference, Stay of Impugned Order, Affidavits Exchange

In the judgment delivered by Shekhar B. Saraf, J., the High Court of Calcutta addressed a writ petition challenging Order-in-Original No. 10/Commr./ST/BOL/19-20 dated August 01, 2019. The court noted the absence of the responding party and drew an adverse inference against them. After hearing arguments from the petitioners and respondent No. 1, the court was prima facie satisfied that the impugned order needed to be stayed. Consequently, the court ordered a stay on the impugned order until March 31, 2020. The judge emphasized the importance of exchanging affidavits for a proper decision on the merits of the case. The court directed the respondents to file an affidavit-in-opposition within four weeks and allowed two weeks for the petitioners to file an affidavit-in-reply. The matter was listed for hearing in the monthly list of cases for January 2019.

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