Interim stay refused on pharmaceutical duty notifications, with tax recovery allowed to continue pending the petition.

Interim stay of notifications granting exemption to pharmaceutical units in Himachal Pradesh and Uttaranchal, while levying duty on medicines manufactured by other units on MRP basis, was refused because the beneficiary units were not before the Court and there was no basis to restrain recovery of duty and taxes under the notifications. The Court held that an interim order should not block lawful tax collection; if the petitioners ultimately succeeded, consequential relief could be worked out later. The request to stay operation and implementation of the notifications was accordingly rejected.

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Issues: Whether operation and implementation of the impugned notifications granting exemption to pharmaceutical manufacturing units in Himachal Pradesh and Uttaranchal, and levying duty on medicines manufactured by other units on MRP basis, should be stayed pending the petition.

Analysis: The prayer for stay was considered in the context of the impugned notifications and the fact that the beneficiary units situated in Himachal Pradesh and Uttaranchal were not parties before the Court. The Court held that there was no justification to restrain the official respondents from recovering duty and taxes in accordance with the notifications. It also observed that if the petitioners ultimately succeeded, consequential relief could then be worked out, but an interim order could not be used to stall tax and duty recovery.

Conclusion: The request for interim stay was rejected.

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