Pre-deposit waiver for interest refused where undue hardship was not shown and the appeal appeared time-barred.

Waiver of pre-deposit of interest was refused because the petitioner challenged only interest liability for the period before alleged receipt of the adjudication order, but failed to show undue hardship. The appellate authority had already dismissed the earlier appeal for non-prosecution after repeated deficiencies were not cured, and had noted that the appeal appeared hopelessly time-barred. On that basis, the Court found no valid ground to bypass the pre-deposit requirement and rejected the plea for waiver.

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Issues: Whether waiver of pre-deposit of interest was warranted and whether the petitioner had shown undue hardship.

Analysis: The petitioner's challenge was confined to the liability to pay interest for the period during which the adjudication order was allegedly not received. The appellate authority had dismissed the earlier appeal for non-prosecution after repeated deficiencies were not cured, and had also observed that the appeal appeared to be hopelessly time-barred. In these circumstances, the Court held that the petitioner had not shown a valid basis to avoid the pre-deposit requirement or to establish undue hardship.

Conclusion: Waiver of pre-deposit was declined and the petitioner's plea of undue hardship was rejected.

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