Court under Office Memorandum F. No. 404/72/93-ITCC dated February 29, 2016 issued by the Central Board of Direct Taxes clarifying Instruction No. 1914 dated March 21, 1996, the Assessing Officer can, while granting stay of the demand, reserve the right to adjust refunds arising, if any, against the demand, to the extent of the amount required for granting stay subject to provisions of section 245 . The Office Memorandum is binding on the Income-tax authorities. Court also held that once an absolute stay of recovery of demand of tax is granted to the assessee, it is improper and inappropriate for the Revenue to recover the money through adjustment of refunds. A stay order passed by an appellate or higher authority must be respected and no deviancy or breach should be made. ( AY. 2017-18)