Deposit of admitted tax as appeal condition precedent cannot be bypassed by sick company protection in maintainability disputes.

A first appeal under section 9(1B) of the U.P. Trade Tax Act, 1948 was treated as maintainable only on proof of payment of the admitted tax, making deposit a condition precedent for entertainment of the appeal. The authorities found that no admitted tax, or instalment under the State deferment arrangement, had been paid, so the appeal could not proceed. Protection under section 22 of the Sick Industrial Companies (Special Provisions) Act, 1985 did not override this requirement, because that protection was relevant to coercive recovery proceedings and not to the statutory threshold for filing the appeal. The recall application therefore failed for non-compliance with the deposit condition.

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Issues: Whether the first appeal was maintainable without deposit of the admitted tax in view of section 9(1B) of the U.P. Trade Tax Act, 1948, and whether the protection available to a sick industrial company under section 22 of the Sick Industrial Companies (Special Provisions) Act, 1985 could override that statutory requirement.

Analysis: The appeal was governed by section 9(1B), which makes proof of payment of the admitted tax a condition precedent for entertainment of the appeal. The factual finding recorded by the authorities below was that no admitted tax or instalment under the State Government's deferment arrangement had been paid. The reliance on section 22 of the Sick Industrial Companies (Special Provisions) Act, 1985 and the decision dealing with coercive recovery of sales tax dues was held inapplicable because the present matter did not concern recovery proceedings, but the threshold requirement for maintainability of the first appeal.

Conclusion: The appeal could not be entertained without compliance with section 9(1B), and the plea based on the Sick Industrial Companies (Special Provisions) Act, 1985 did not excuse non-deposit of the admitted tax.

Final Conclusion: The application for recall failed because the statutory precondition for filing the appeal had not been satisfied.

Ratio Decidendi: A statutory requirement making deposit of the admitted tax a condition precedent for entertaining an appeal cannot be bypassed by invoking the protection available to a sick industrial company where the dispute is about appeal maintainability and not coercive recovery.

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