Pre-deposit relief granted where prima facie duty payment records and disputed downstream duty required verification pending appeal.

Interim relief on pre-deposit was considered appropriate where the appellant showed a prima facie record of duty having been paid on the intermediate product before the disputed period and resumed after adjudication. The disputed stoppage of payment for two months was treated as arising from confusion during pendency of the show cause proceedings, while the claim that the finished goods at the downstream plant had already suffered duty required verification. Because the dispute involved substantial revenue and the duty-payment position on record supported a prima facie case, pre-deposit of the disputed demand was dispensed with pending appeal.

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Issues: Whether pre-deposit of the disputed duty demand arising for September and October 2007 should be dispensed with pending appeal, in view of the appellant's claim that the intermediate goods were subjected to duty at the Visakhapatnam plant and that the issue had created bona fide confusion during the pendency of adjudication.

Analysis: The appellant had been paying duty on the intermediate product before the disputed period and resumed payment after the adjudication order, while the record indicated a prima facie case that the finished goods at the Visakhapatnam plant had suffered duty. The order treated the stoppage of duty payment only for the disputed two months as arising from confusion created by the pending show cause notice and considered the duty payment position on the record sufficient for an interim view. Since the disputed issue involved substantial revenue and the claim of duty payment at the downstream plant required verification, the matter was considered fit for relief at the pre-deposit stage.

Conclusion: Pre-deposit was dispensed with pending appeal.

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