Natural justice requires disposal of a stay application filed with an appeal; omission to decide it vitiates the appellate order.

An appellate order cannot stand where a stay application filed with the appeal is ignored and no decision is taken on that material request, because such omission breaches natural justice. The record showed that the stay plea accompanied the appeal but was not dealt with in the impugned order, leaving the appeal without proper adjudication. The order was therefore set aside and the matter remanded to the appellate authority for fresh decision in accordance with law, after considering the stay application and granting a hearing if sought.

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Issues: Whether the appellate order could be sustained when the stay application filed along with the appeal had been overlooked and no decision had been passed on it.

Analysis: The record showed that the stay application had been filed with the appeal and was not dealt with in the impugned order. The omission to consider that application meant that the appellate order had been passed without proper adjudication of a material request, resulting in violation of the principles of natural justice. The appropriate course was to set aside the order and send the matter back for fresh decision after considering the stay application and granting hearing if sought.

Conclusion: The impugned order was set aside and the matter was remanded to the appellate authority for fresh decision in accordance with law, with consideration of the stay application.

Ratio Decidendi: An appellate order that overlooks and fails to decide a material stay application is vitiated for breach of natural justice and must be set aside with remand for fresh consideration.

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