Stay petition pending in appeal requires deferral of coercive recovery until the appellate authority decides it.

Coercive recovery against a penalty order was to be deferred where the assessee had already filed a statutory appeal and a stay petition. The court applied procedural fairness and held that recovery action should not continue until the appellate authority considered the stay request. The writ petition was disposed of with a direction that coercive steps remain on hold until the stay petition was decided, and the appellate authority was instructed to decide the stay petition expeditiously.

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Issues: Whether coercive recovery steps could be deferred until the appellate authority considered the stay petition filed against the penalty order.

Analysis: The petitioner had already availed the statutory appellate remedy and had also filed a stay petition in the appeal. In these circumstances, procedural fairness warranted that coercive action should await consideration of the stay request by the appellate authority.

Outcome: The writ petition was disposed of with a direction to defer coercive steps until the third respondent considered the stay petition, and the stay petition was to be decided expeditiously.

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