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TMI Blog2022 (7) TMI 369X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... evied would cause undue hardship, could dispense the said deposit on such conditions as it deemed fit to impose so as to safeguard the interest of the Revenue. A Division Bench of Delhi High Court in M/S. VISH WIND INFRASTRUCTURE LLP, M/S. J.N. INVESTMENT TRADING CO. PVT. LTD. VERSUS ADDITIONAL DIRECTOR GENERAL (ADJUDICATION) , NEW DELHI [ 2019 (8) TMI 1809 - DELHI HIGH COURT] examined the provisions of section 35F of the Central Excise Act, 1944 which are pari materia to section 129E of the Customs Act and held that every appeal filed before the Tribunal after the amendment made in section 35F of the Excise Act and section 129E of the Customs Act on 06.08.2014 would be maintainable only if the mandatory pre-deposit was made. In coming to this conclusion, the Division Bench relied upon the judgment of the Delhi High Court in ANJANI TECHNOPLAST LTD. VERSUS THE COMMISSIONER OF CUSTOMS [ 2015 (10) TMI 2446 - DELHI HIGH COURT] and also observed that in view of the peremptory words shall not , there is an absolute bar on the Tribunal to entertain any appeal unless the requirement of pre-deposit is satisfied. Thus, it is not possible to grant waiver of the pre-deposit amount. ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... l,- - (i) under sub-section (1) of section 128, unless the appellant has deposited seven and a half per cent. of the duty, in case where duty or duty and penalty are in dispute, or penalty, where such penalty is in dispute, in pursuance of a decision or an order passed by an officer of customs lower in rank than the Principal Commissioner of Customs or Commissioner of Customs; (ii) against the decision or order referred to in clause (a) of sub-section (1) of section 129A, unless the appellant has deposited seven and a half per cent of the duty, in case where duty or duty and penalty are in dispute, or penalty, where such penalty is in dispute, in pursuance of the decision or order appealed against; (iii) against the decision or order referred to in clause (b) of sub-section (1) of section 129A, unless the appellant has deposited ten per cent of the duty, in case where duty or duty and penalty are in dispute, or penalty, where such penalty is in dispute, in pursuance of the decision or order appealed against : PROVIDED that the amount required to be deposited under this section shall not exceed rupees ten crores: PROVIDED FURTHER that the provisions of this section sh ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the third proviso to the sub section, the Appellate Tribunal has the power to reduce the amount, for the reasons to be recorded in writing, to not less than twenty-five per cent of the debt, referred to in the second proviso. Thus, there is an absolute bar to entertainment of an appeal under Section 18 of the Act unless the condition precedent, as stipulated, is fulfilled. Unless the borrower makes, with the Appellate Tribunal, a pre- deposit of fifty per cent of the debt due from him or determined, an appeal under the said provision cannot be entertained by the Appellate Tribunal. The language of the said proviso is clear and admits of no ambiguity. 8. It is well-settled that when a Statute confers a right of appeal, while granting the right, the Legislature can impose conditions for the exercise of such right, so long as the conditions are not so onerous as to amount to unreasonable restrictions, rendering the right almost illusory. Bearing in mind the object of the Act, the conditions hedged in the said proviso cannot be said to be onerous. Thus, we hold that the requirement of pre-deposit under sub- section (1) of Section 18 of the Act is mandatory and there is no reason wha ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Civil Appeal No. 1566 of 2022 decided on February 28, 2022 ], the Supreme Court noted that the Tribunal had rejected the appeal filed under section 129A of the Customs Act for the reason that the appellant had not complied with the requirement of pre-deposit under section 129E of the Customs Act. Though the contention of the appellant that the provisions of section 129E of the Customs Act as it stood prior to 06.08.2014 should be applied, was rejected by the Supreme Court for the reason that the order was passed by the Commissioner on 23.11.2015 and the appeal was filed in 2017, but the Supreme Court also observed:- 8 . It is in sharp departure from the previous regime that the new provisions has been enacted. Under the new regime, on the one hand, the amount to be deposited to maintain the appeal has been reduced from 100% to 7.5% but the discretion which was made available to the appellate body to scale down the pre-deposit has been taken away. 11. We would think that the legislative intention would clearly be to not to allow the appellant to avail the benefit of the discretionary power available under the proviso to the substituted provisions under section 129E. When ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ction 35F of the Central Excise Act, 1944 which are pari materia to section 129E of the Customs Act and held that every appeal filed before the Tribunal after the amendment made in section 35F of the Excise Act and section 129E of the Customs Act on 06.08.2014 would be maintainable only if the mandatory pre-deposit was made. In coming to this conclusion, the Division Bench relied upon the judgment of the Delhi High Court in Anjani Technoplast Ltd. v/s Commissioner of Customs [ 2015(326) ELT 472 (Del.) ] and also observed that in view of the peremptory words shall not , there is an absolute bar on the Tribunal to entertain any appeal unless the requirement of pre-deposit is satisfied. The Division Bench further observed as follows:- 28. Equally, it is trite that no court can issue a direction to any authority, to act in violation of the law. A reading of section 35F of the Central Excise Act reveals, by the usage of the peremptory words shall not therein, that there is an absolute bar on the CESTAT entertaining any appeal, under Section 35 of the said Act, unless the appellant has deposited 7.5 % of the duty confirmed against it by the authority below. 29. The two provisos ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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