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2026 Supreme(Online)(Ker) 30872
IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM
Ziyad Rahman A.A., J
Jeffrey Joy – Appellant
Versus
Additional/Joint/Deputy/Assistant Commissioner Of Income Tax/Income Tax Officer – Respondent
WP(C) NO. 16914 OF 2026
For the Appellants/Petitioners: K. Krishna, Achyuth Menon, Parvathy Menon, V. Harisankar, Anna Anto
For the Respondents: Ajithkumar S
Courts may grant interim protection by staying recovery proceedings until the appellate authority decides upon a pending stay application in tax matters.
Headnote:The petitioner filed a writ petition challenging ongoing recovery proceedings initiated by the revenue authorities while an appeal and a corresponding stay petition against an assessment order for the 2018-2019 assessment year remained pending. The petitioner sought an interim stay on recovery pending the adjudication of the appeal. The core issue is whether recovery proceedings should be stalled while a stay application is pending before the appellate authority. The Court determined that the appellate authority should expeditiously decide the stay application to protect the petitioner from coercive recovery during the pendency of the appeal. The Court ordered the appellate authority to dispose of the stay petition within two months and directed that recovery proceedings remain in abeyance until that decision is rendered.
| Table of Content |
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| 1. filing of an appeal accompanied by a stay application against an assessment order. (Para 1 , 2) |
| 2. granting temporary stay of recovery proceedings pending disposal of a stay petition. (Para 3 , 4) |
JUDGMENT
The petitioner, who is an assessee under the Income Tax Act, 1965, has filed Ext.P2 appeal, being aggrieved by Ext.P1 assessment order pertaining to the assessment year 2018-2019. Along with Ext.P3, stay petition was also submitted.
2. Grievance of the petitioner is with regard to the recovery that is being pursued by the respondents, pending consideration of the appeal and the stay petition. This writ petition is submitted in such circumstances.
3. After hearing the learned counsel for the petitioner and the learned Standing Counsel for the respondents, I am inclined to dispose of this writ petition.
4. Accordingly, it is ordered that the 2nd respondent shall take up Ext.P3 stay petition and pass appropriate orders thereon within a period of two months from the date of receipt of this judgment. Until such a decision is taken, the recovery proceedings pursuant to Exts.P1 Assessment order shall be kept in abeyance.
