Pre-deposit under sales tax law requires payment of admitted tax, and settled liability cannot be reopened to bypass appeal conditions.

The proviso to section 9 of the U.P. Sales Tax Act requires deposit of the tax admitted in appeal, which must be determined from the memorandum of appeal and the relief sought. An assessee cannot avoid this pre-deposit condition by disputing liability on an issue already finally decided against it, because such a denial is not bona fide and would defeat the statutory purpose. On that basis, the appellate authority was not right in entertaining the dealer's appeal without payment of the tax held payable on cane-crushers.

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Issues: Whether the appellate authority was right in entertaining the dealer's appeal despite non-payment of tax on cane-crushers, when the liability to tax on cane-crushers had already been settled by the High Court.

Analysis: The proviso to section 9 of the U.P. Sales Tax Act required deposit of the tax admitted in the appeal. The appellate authority had to examine the memorandum of appeal and the relief sought to ascertain the turnover and tax liability admitted and not disputed at the stage of appeal. Since the question whether cane-crushers were agricultural implements had already been decided against the assessee, the claim of non-liability was not bona fide and could not be used to avoid the statutory condition. A contrary view would make the proviso ineffective and defeat the legislative purpose.

Conclusion: The appeal should not have been entertained without payment of tax on cane-crushers, and the answer was in favour of the department and against the assessee.

Final Conclusion: The reference was answered by holding that the appellate authority was not right in entertaining the dealer's appeal in the absence of payment of the tax already held payable on cane-crushers.

Ratio Decidendi: For the purpose of the proviso to section 9 of the U.P. Sales Tax Act, the tax admitted in appeal is to be determined from the memorandum of appeal and relief sought, and an assessee cannot evade the pre-deposit requirement by denying liability on an issue already finally settled against it.

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