In Brief
A major constitutional law judgment on appellate procedure in income tax cases. The Supreme Court struck down a statutory provision that automatically vacated stay orders after 365 days, even when the assessee had not caused any delay in appeal proceedings. The Court held this violated Article 14 (equality) as it treated assessees who caused delays identically to those who did not. The judgment declared that stay orders can be extended beyond 365 days if tribunal delays—not the assessee's conduct—caused the postponement. This protects taxpayers from revenue coercion while appeals pend through no fault of their own.
The lawyer headnote and full judgment text are available to registered users.