Customs recovery cannot proceed coercively while stay applications are pending, and compelled payment may render stay infructuous.

Coercive recovery of customs dues should not be undertaken while stay applications remain pending before the Tribunal, as such action defeats the purpose of stay and amounts to harassment. The order notes that the applicants had already paid the demanded amounts under compulsion, rendering the stay applications infructuous. It also refers to the prevailing convention and departmental instructions against coercive recovery during pendency of stay applications. No substantive adjudication on the merits of the appeals was made.

---

---

Issues: Whether coercive action for recovery of customs dues could be taken while stay applications were pending before the Tribunal, and whether the stay applications survived for adjudication.

Analysis: The order records that the stay applications had become infructuous because the applicants had already paid the demanded amounts under compulsion. It further records that taking coercive steps during the pendency of stay applications was not justified and that such action defeats the purpose of stay and amounts to harassment. The order also notes the prevailing convention and departmental instructions against coercive recovery during pendency of stay applications.

Outcome: No substantive adjudication was made on the merits of the appeals, and the stay applications were treated as infructuous.

---