Appellate jurisdiction bar: a writ challenge to an interim pre-deposit order remained outside special appeal under the High Court Rules.

A special appeal was barred where the Single Judge's Article 226 judgment concerned an interim order passed by the Commissioner (Appeals) in appellate proceedings under the Central Excises and Salt Act, 1944. Chapter VIII, Rule 5 of the Allahabad High Court Rules excludes special appeals from judgments rendered in appellate jurisdiction and from writ judgments relating to orders made by a Government officer or authority in appellate or revisional jurisdiction under a Central Act. The interim order on waiver of pre-deposit retained its appellate character despite the pending main appeal, so the writ petition fell within the Rule 5 exclusion and the special appeal was not maintainable.

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Issues: Whether a special appeal lay against a Single Judge's judgment under Article 226 of the Constitution where the writ petition challenged an interim order passed by the Commissioner (Appeals) in exercise of appellate power under the Central Excises and Salt Act, 1944.

Analysis: Chapter VIII, Rule 5 of the Allahabad High Court Rules excludes a special appeal from a judgment passed in the exercise of appellate jurisdiction and also from a judgment under Article 226 in respect of an order of a Government, officer or authority made in appellate or revisional jurisdiction under a Central Act. The impugned order, though interim in nature and relating to waiver of pre-deposit under the proviso to Section 35F of the Central Excises and Salt Act, 1944, was passed by the Commissioner (Appeals) while exercising appellate authority. The pendency of the main appeal did not alter the appellate character of the order. The writ petition therefore fell within the exclusion in Rule 5.

Conclusion: The special appeal was not maintainable and was liable to be dismissed.

Final Conclusion: The judgment affirms that an order passed by the Commissioner (Appeals) in the course of appellate proceedings remains an appellate order for the purpose of the special appeal bar under the High Court Rules.

Ratio Decidendi: An order passed by an appellate authority in the course of pending appeal, including an interim order on pre-deposit, retains its character as an appellate order and a special appeal against a writ judgment challenging such order is barred by the relevant rule.

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