ISMAIL, J.

The petitioner in these petitions filed Writ Petitions Nos. 1857 and 1858 of 1968 challenging the validity of item 7 of the Second Schedule to the Madras General Sales Tax Act, 1959, and prayed for writs of prohibition restraining the State of Madras and the Deputy Commercial Tax Officer, Vaniyambadi, North Arcot District, the 1st respondent in these petitions from taking all further assessment proceedings in respect of the years 1967-68 and 1968-69 enforcing any of the provisions in item 7 of the Second Schedule to the Madras General Sales Tax Act, 1959. At the same time, the petitioner also filed C.M.Ps. Nos. 7154 of 1968 and 7155 of 1968 in the said writ petitions praying for stay of all further assessment proceedings for the respective years pending disposal of the said writ petitions. The writ petitions and the civil miscellaneous petitions came up for admission and on 7th May, 1968, this Court directed the issue of rule nisi in the writ petitions and passed an interim order of stay in the civil miscellaneous petitions in the following terms :

"That all further assessment proceedings for the years 1967-68 and 1968-69 in respect of the petitioners in W.Ps. Nos. 1857 and 1858 of 1968 on the file of the respondent and enforcing any of the provisions of item 7 of the Second Schedule to the Madras General Sales Tax Act, 1959, be and are hereby stayed pending further orders on these petitions." *

A copy of the interim order of stay was served on the 1st respondent herein on 9th May, 1968. On the same date after referring to the filing of the writ petitions by the petitioner herein and also the order of stay passed by this Court, the Assistant Commercial Tax Officer, Vaniyambadi, the 2nd respondent herein, sent the following notice to the petitioner herein :

"According to the provisions in force you are entitled and liable to tax on the transactions effected by you as a registered dealer. As keeping such amounts with you till the disposal of writ petitions filed by you in the absence of any security offered for the realisation of amounts that become due to Government on the disposal of writ petitions involved risk to Government, I demand a security or a bank guarantee or cash at one and half times the average tax due from you. Accordingly based on the final assessment for 1966-67 the tax due (1 1/2 times) works out to Rs. 42, 000 (Rs. Forty-two thousand).

You are hereby required to pay the security within seven days of receipt of this notice, failing which steps will be taken to recover the amount of security." *

On receipt of this notice, the petitioner wrote to the respondents drawing the attention of the respondents to the interim order of stay passed by this Court on 7th May, 1968, without imposing any conditions and contending that in the face of the order of this Court, the notice issued by the respondents was neither competent nor proper. On 20th May, 1968, the respondents sent a reply inviting the petitioner's attention to section 21(5) of the Madras General Sales Tax Act, 1959, and contending that the registering authority was competent to demand security for proper payment of Government dues and calling upon the petitioner to pay the security on or before 1st June, 1968. At the same time, they stated that that has nothing to do or interfere with the writ petitions filed by the petitioner. It is at this stage the petitioner filed the present civil miscellaneous petitions for taking action against the respondents for contempt of orders of this Court.

On 17th June, 1968, I directed notice to the respondents. Thereafter, the respondents filed a counter-affidavit dated 29th June, 1968. In the counter-affidavit it was contended that the action taken by the respondents had nothing whatever to do with the pendency of the writ petitions on the file of this Court and the interim order of stay passed by this Court on 7th May, 1968. However, the respondents submitted that they had no intention whatever to disobe