Composite assessment orders can include interest in appeal and stay relief despite a bar on standalone interest orders.

A composite assessment or first appellate order determining tax, penalty and consequential interest under the Maharashtra Value Added Tax Act remains appealable under Section 26(6A) and Section 26(6B) where the interest forms part of the same adjudication. The bar in Section 85(2)(b-3) applies to a standalone interest order under Section 30(2) or Section 30(4), and does not exclude interest embedded in a composite order from appellate scrutiny or from stay relief under Section 26(6C). The stay application was therefore maintainable in respect of the interest component, and the disputed interest was directed to be included in the stay already granted.

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Issues: Whether a composite assessment or appellate order including a levy of interest under Section 30(2) of the Maharashtra Value Added Tax Act, 2002 remains appealable under Section 26(6A) and Section 26(6B), and whether stay under Section 26(6C) can extend to the interest component despite the bar in Section 85(2)(b-3).

Analysis: The dispute arose from an assessment and first appellate order that dealt with tax, penalty and interest together. The relevant scheme of the Act permits appeals against assessment orders and orders of the first appellate authority, and the appellate power under Section 26(5) and the stay power under Section 26(6C) operate on the order appealed against. The Court held that where the assessing authority or first appellate authority passes a composite order determining tax and consequential interest, the interest component forms part of the same appealable order. Section 85(2)(b-3) was construed as applying to a standalone order passed only on interest under Section 30(2) or Section 30(4), and not as excluding interest from the scope of a composite order challenged under Section 26(6A) or Section 26(6B). The Court also relied on the principle that the statutory provisions should not be read so as to create an artificial separation of inseparable components of one composite adjudication.

Conclusion: The bar in Section 85(2)(b-3) does not defeat an appeal or stay application against the interest component when it forms part of a composite assessment or appellate order; the stay application was maintainable and required consideration on the interest amount as well.

Final Conclusion: The writ petition succeeded and the Tribunal was directed to modify the stay order so that the disputed interest component was included in the stay already granted.

Ratio Decidendi: A statutory bar on appeal against an independent interest order does not exclude interest from appellate scrutiny where the interest is embedded in a composite order determining tax liability and consequential dues under the same adjudication.

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