Subsequent sales tax deferment entitlement can justify restoring appeals dismissed for failure to comply with a pre-deposit direction.

Subsequent grant of eligibility and entitlement certificates for sales tax deferment can justify restoring appeals dismissed for non-compliance with a pre-deposit direction. The Court noted that the later certificates established entitlement to deferment from the date of commercial production, which materially changed the basis on which the appeals had earlier been dismissed. As the original non-deposit order rested on a footing that no longer held good, the dismissal could not stand. The appeals were therefore restored and directed to be heard on merits without insisting on deposit of the assessed amount.

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Issues: Whether the dismissal of the assessee's appeals for non-compliance with the pre-deposit direction was liable to be set aside and the appeals restored for hearing on merits in view of the subsequent grant of eligibility and entitlement certificates for deferment of sales tax.

Analysis: The assessee had initially been denied the benefit of deferment, and the appeals were dismissed for failure to deposit the assessed tax as directed. However, the eligibility certificate and the entitlement certificate were later granted, establishing the assessee's entitlement to deferment with effect from the date of commercial production. In these circumstances, the later events materially altered the basis on which the appeals had been dismissed, and the appeals could not be allowed to stand dismissed on the earlier footing. The Court therefore directed that the appeals be restored and heard on merits without insisting on deposit of the assessed amount.

Conclusion: The dismissal orders were set aside and the assessee's appeals were ordered to be restored and heard on merits without pre-deposit.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a taxpayer subsequently acquires the statutory entitlement to deferment that undermines the basis of dismissal for non-deposit, the Court may take note of subsequent events and restore the appeal for decision on merits.

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