Doctrine of merger barred reopening the Commissioner's order, and the Revenue's later appeal was held not maintainable.

The Commissioner's order had merged into the Tribunal's earlier final order, so the original order ceased to exist independently and could not be revived by a later appeal after Board review. Because the Revenue's challenge to that earlier final order was stated to be pending before the Supreme Court, the Tribunal held that it could not reopen the correctness of the relief already granted to the assessee in the merged order. The Revenue's appeal was therefore not maintainable and was not entertained before the Tribunal.

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Issues: Whether the Revenue's appeal was maintainable after the Commissioner's order had merged in the Tribunal's earlier final order, and whether the Tribunal could examine the matter when the Revenue's further challenge to that final order was stated to be pending before the Supreme Court.

Analysis: The Commissioner's order had already been set aside by the Tribunal in an earlier final order, with the result that the original order ceased to have independent existence by merger. The subsequent appeal filed after the Board's review could not revive a non-existent order. Since the Revenue's challenge to the earlier final order was stated to be pending before the Supreme Court, the correctness of the relief granted to the assessee in that merged order could not be reopened before the Tribunal.

Conclusion: The appeal was not maintainable and could not be entertained before the Tribunal.

Final Conclusion: The Revenue's challenge failed, and the Tribunal declined to go into the merits of the relief earlier granted to the assessee.

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