Tribunal must decide appeals on merits or keep them pending when a connected Supreme Court matter is unresolved.

The Tribunal should not dispose of an appeal without deciding the dispute on merits merely because a connected matter on the same issue is pending before the SC. Where such pendency exists, it must either keep the appeal pending until the connected case is decided or determine the merits itself. Disposing of the appeals without answering the issue either way was held improper, and the impugned order was set aside with the matter remitted to the Tribunal for fresh consideration.

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Issues: Whether the Tribunal was justified in disposing of the appeals without deciding the dispute on merits in view of the pendency of a connected matter before the Supreme Court, and whether the impugned order required interference.

Analysis: The Tribunal had disposed of the appeals without answering the issue either way, merely because a connected appeal on the same question was pending before the Supreme Court. Such disposal was found improper, as the Tribunal ought either to have kept the appeal pending until the connected matter was decided or to have decided the dispute on merits itself.

Conclusion: The impugned order was set aside and the matter was remitted to the Tribunal for fresh consideration.

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