Mandatory pre-deposit under MSME law must be made in full, though courts may allow instalment-based payment.

Section 19 of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Act, 2006 makes the seventy-five per cent pre-deposit a mandatory condition precedent for entertaining an application to set aside an award, decree or order, and the Court has no discretion to waive or reduce that statutory requirement. The phrase "in the manner directed by such Court" was construed as permitting only procedural regulation of payment, including instalments, without diluting the prescribed percentage. The challenge was confined to statutory interpretation, and the special leave petitions were not entertained.

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Issues: Whether the requirement of depositing seventy-five per cent of the award amount under Section 19 of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Act, 2006 is mandatory for entertaining an application to set aside the award, and whether the words "in the manner directed by such Court" permit the Court to allow payment by instalments.

Analysis: Section 19 bars entertainment of an application to set aside a decree, award or order unless the appellant deposits seventy-five per cent of the amount in terms of the award, showing that the pre-deposit requirement is mandatory and the Court has no discretion to waive or reduce it. The expression "in the manner directed by such Court" was read as conferring a limited procedural discretion regarding the mode of deposit, including payment in instalments, rather than any power to dilute the statutory percentage. The challenge was thus confined to interpretation and not to the vires of the provision.

Conclusion: The pre-deposit under Section 19 is mandatory and cannot be waived or reduced, though the Court may permit deposit in instalments; the petitions were not entertained.

Final Conclusion: The special leave petitions failed on the interpretation of Section 19, and the connected matters were disposed of in consequence, with time extended for making the statutory deposit.

Ratio Decidendi: The pre-deposit condition under Section 19 of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Act, 2006 is a mandatory condition precedent to maintainability, but the Court may regulate only the manner of deposit and allow instalments.

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