Payment of Mandatory Pre- Deposit: SC directs to make Payment before Appellate Authority within 2 Weeks [Read Judgement]
Payment of Mandatory Pre- Deposit SC directs Payment before Appellate Authority – TAXSCAN
Payment of Mandatory Pre- Deposit SC directs Payment before Appellate Authority – TAXSCAN
The Supreme Court of India directed the petitioner, M/s Classic Decorators, to make payment before the Appellate Authority within two weeks in the matter of payment of mandatory pre-deposit.
The petitioner approached the Delhi High Court, aggrieved by an order dated 04.05.2023, whereby its appeal against an order-in-original dated 20.12.2022 was not entertained for want of necessary pre-deposit.
The counsels for the petitioner submitted before the High Court that in view of the observations made by the Delhi High Court in the order dated 31.01.2023, the petitioner’s appeal ought to have been entertained by the Appellate Authority without insisting on pre-deposit.
Finding no merit in the aforesaid contention, the High Court Bench observed that, “The amount of pre-deposit required is 7.5% of the total demand, which is not a large sum.” It was also noted that, “There is no averment that the requirement of pre-deposit has rendered the appellate remedy illusory or that the petitioner is anyway impeded from availing the same.”
The Division Bench of Justice Vibhu Bakhru and Justice Amit Mahajan thus held, “We find no ground to interfere with the impugned order dated 04.05.2022. We clarify that if the petitioner makes the pre-deposit within a period of two weeks from today, the Appellate Authority shall consider the petitioner’s appeal on merits.”
Read More: Delhi HC dismisses Plea to Waive Pre-Deposit for Appeal against limitation-barred Service Tax Demand Order
The present special leave petition was filed impugning the final order passed by the Delhi High Court.
The counsel for the petitioner submitted before the Supreme Court that permission may be granted to the petitioner to withdraw this special leave petition and some time may be granted to make the pre-deposit.
A Two-Judge Bench of Justices BV Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan observed that “The special leave petition is accordingly dismissed as withdrawn. It is noted that the High Court had granted two weeks’ timefrom 29.05.2023 to make the pre-deposit. Hence, we also grant two weeks’ time from today to make the pre-deposit before the appellate authority.”
To Read the full text of the Order CLICK HERE
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