Statutory pre-deposit for tax appeals cannot be waived absent express power, even for a sick industrial company.

Section 31 of the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act, 1959 requires payment of the admitted tax and the stipulated pre-deposit of disputed tax as a condition precedent to entertaining an appeal, and the appellate authority cannot waive that mandate in the absence of express statutory power. The fact that the appellant was a sick industrial company did not override the statutory requirement, because section 22 of the Sick Industrial Companies (Special Provisions) Act, 1985 was inapplicable to a taxpayer's own appeal rather than coercive recovery action against assets. Writ jurisdiction could not be used to direct admission of the appeal despite non-compliance with the pre-deposit condition.

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Issues: Whether an appellate authority can entertain an appeal under section 31 of the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act, 1959 without payment of the admitted tax and the stipulated pre-deposit merely because the appellant is a sick industrial company, and whether writ jurisdiction can be exercised to direct admission of the appeal despite non-compliance with the statutory condition.

Analysis: Section 31 made payment of the admitted tax and twenty-five per cent of the disputed tax a condition precedent for entertainment of the appeal. The appellate authority, being a statutory authority, had no power to ignore that mandate in the absence of any statutory provision conferring discretion to waive or reduce the deposit. The authorities cited on pre-deposit were distinguishable because the relevant enactments there expressly conferred waiver or lesser-deposit powers, unlike the Tamil Nadu statute. The protection under section 22 of the Sick Industrial Companies (Special Provisions) Act, 1985 was held inapplicable because the case concerned the taxpayer's own statutory appeal and not coercive recovery proceedings against the company's assets.

Conclusion: The appeal could not be entertained without compliance with the statutory pre-deposit requirement, and no writ direction could be issued to dispense with it.

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