Recovery of assessed tax may proceed without stay; pending revision does not by itself bar pre-recovery notice challenge.

An assessed tax demand under the Odisha Value Added Tax Act, 2004 remains recoverable unless it is stayed, and the filing of an appeal or revision does not by itself suspend recovery. The article notes that the assessment was made under Section 42, the statute provided an appeal under Section 77(1), and the assessee instead pursued revision under Section 79(2) without producing any stay order. It further explains that recovery of unpaid assessed tax is authorised under Sections 50(4) to 50(7), and that a pre-recovery notice calling for a reply before coercive steps are taken is ordinarily not fit for writ interference absent any lack of legal authority.

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Issues: Whether the writ petition challenging the recovery notice and the underlying demand was maintainable in the absence of any stay order, when the assessee had invoked revision against the assessment order.

Analysis: The assessment was made under Section 42 of the Odisha Value Added Tax Act, 2004, against which the statute provided an appeal under Section 77(1). The assessee had instead filed a revision under Section 79(2) and had not produced any order staying recovery of the demand. The Court noted that appeal or revision does not by itself suspend recovery, and that recovery of unpaid assessed tax is authorised under Section 50(4) to Section 50(7). A mere notice proposing recovery, especially one calling for a reply before initiation of proceedings, is not ordinarily amenable to writ interference when no lack of authority of law is shown.

Conclusion: The writ challenge to the recovery notice was premature and not entertainable, and the demand could not be interfered with in the absence of any stay.

Ratio Decidendi: Where an assessed tax demand is not stayed, the revenue may proceed in accordance with the statutory recovery mechanism, and a writ court will ordinarily not quash a pre-recovery notice merely because a revision is pending or because another statutory remedy was available.

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