Pre-deposit condition under taxing law upheld as a valid basis for dismissing an appeal for non-payment.

The right of appeal under the Haryana General Sales Tax Act, 1973 is statutory and may be conditioned on pre-deposit of the assessed amount. Section 39 permits the appellate authority to entertain the appeal only after deposit, subject to discretion to waive deposit on proof of inability to pay. Where no challenge was made to the deposit direction and no material showed inability to pay, dismissal for non-deposit was legally sustainable and not interfered with under article 226.

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Issues: Whether an appellate authority under the Haryana General Sales Tax Act, 1973 could dismiss an appeal for non-compliance with a direction to deposit the disputed tax amount and whether such dismissal suffered from legal infirmity.

Analysis: The right of appeal is a creature of statute and can be regulated by conditions imposed by the statute. Under section 39, the appellate authority may entertain the appeal only upon deposit of the assessed amount, subject to its discretion to dispense with deposit on proof of inability to pay. The record did not show any challenge to the order directing deposit, and no material was placed to establish inability to pay. The earlier decisions relied upon recognized the validity of such pre-deposit requirements and the limited scope of interference under article 226 of the Constitution of India.

Conclusion: The dismissal of the appeal for non-deposit of the additional demand was held to be lawful and was not interfered with.

Ratio Decidendi: An appeal under a taxing statute can be made maintainable only on fulfilment of the statutory pre-deposit condition, and the appellate authority is not bound to entertain it without deposit unless legally established inability to pay is shown.

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