Stay petition pending in appeal requires coercive recovery to be deferred until the appellate authority decides it.

Where a taxpayer has already filed an appeal and a stay petition, procedural fairness requires coercive recovery steps under the assessment order to be kept in abeyance until the appellate authority considers the stay request. The HC directed deferment of coercive action pending such consideration and expected expeditious disposal of the stay petition.

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Issues: Whether coercive steps pursuant to the assessment order could be continued before the appellate authority considered the stay petition filed along with the appeal.

Analysis: The petitioner had already invoked the statutory appellate remedy and had also sought stay in the appeal. In the circumstances, procedural fairness required that coercive action be held in abeyance until the stay request was considered by the appellate authority.

Outcome: The writ petition was disposed of with a direction to defer coercive steps until the stay petition is considered, with an expectation of expeditious disposal of the stay petition.

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