Vested right of appeal preserved against retrospective pre-deposit amendment in tax appeals filed before the change.

Amended pre-deposit requirements for tax appeals were held not to apply retrospectively to returns filed before the amendment. The court treated the right of appeal as a vested right accruing when the lis commenced, and in tax matters that point arose when the return was filed or was due to be filed. Because the amendment introducing a mandatory twenty-five per cent pre-deposit contained no express or necessary retrospective effect, the pre-amendment regime continued to govern. Section 4 of the Punjab General Clauses Act, 1898 preserved the accrued right and the corresponding obligation under the old law, so the insistence on the amended pre-deposit was set aside.

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Issues: Whether the amended pre-deposit requirement under section 20(5) of the Punjab General Sales Tax Act, 1948 applied to appeals arising from returns filed before the amendment, and whether the right of appeal was governed by the law in force when the lis commenced.

Analysis: The statutory scheme before amendment permitted entertainment of an appeal on proof of payment, with discretionary waiver or part-payment where the dealer was unable to pay. The amendment introduced a mandatory minimum pre-deposit of twenty-five per cent. The amendment was held not to be retrospective either expressly or by necessary implication. The right of appeal was treated as a vested right accruing when the lis commenced, and in tax matters the lis was held to commence when the return was filed or was required to be filed. As the returns in the writ petitions had been filed before the amendment, the pre-amendment legal position continued to govern. The saving principle under section 4 of the Punjab General Clauses Act, 1898 preserved the accrued right and the corresponding obligation under the old law.

Conclusion: The amended pre-deposit provision did not apply to the petitioner, and the appeal right remained governed by the unamended provision in force when the lis commenced.

Final Conclusion: The writ petitions succeeded, the impugned order insisting on the amended pre-deposit was set aside, and the matter was sent back for fresh decision in accordance with the pre-amendment law.

Ratio Decidendi: A statutory amendment affecting the entertainment of a tax appeal does not operate retrospectively to defeat a vested right of appeal that accrued when the lis commenced, unless such retrospective effect is expressly or by necessary implication provided.

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