Substantial Question of Law in tax appeal fails where dispute is factual, leaving the granted rebate intact.

A tax appeal lies only if it raises a substantial question of law; where the dispute turns on factual assessment of the taxpayer's activities and supporting material, no such question arises. The High Court treated the Appellate Board's findings as purely factual and found no statutory violation, so the appeal was not maintainable on merits and was rejected at the admission stage. On merger, dismissal of the departmental appeal was treated as confirming the lower appellate authority's order, leaving the rebate earlier granted to the taxpayer undisturbed.

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Issues: Whether the appeal under Section 53 of the Madhya Pradesh Value Added Tax Act raised any substantial question of law and whether the rebate granted by the lower appellate authority survived after dismissal of the appeal by the Appellate Board.

Analysis: The appeal was maintainable only if it involved a substantial question of law. The dispute before the authorities was found to be based on factual assessment of the appellant's activities and the material on record, including the customer's statement. The findings recorded by the Appellate Board were held to be purely factual and not in violation of any statutory provision. On the question of merger, dismissal of the appeal by the Appellate Board was treated as confirmation of the lower appellate authority's order, and the rebate granted earlier was held to remain undisturbed.

Conclusion: No substantial question of law arose, and the rebate granted by the lower appellate authority continued to hold good.

Final Conclusion: The appeal could not be entertained on merits and was rejected at the admission stage, while the relief already granted by the lower appellate authority was left intact.

Ratio Decidendi: A tax appeal lies only on a substantial question of law, and where the dispute is purely factual, dismissal of the departmental appeal confirms the subordinate appellate order without disturbing the relief already granted.

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