Pre-deposit compliance under service tax appeal rules defeated the extension request and led to dismissal.

An appeal under the service tax regime depended on compliance with the pre-deposit direction, and the appellant had not deposited the amount within the stipulated time. The request for further time had already become spent by the time the matter was considered, with no effective compliance steps shown, so the extension application was dismissed as infructuous. Because the statutory pre-deposit requirement remained unsatisfied, the appeal could not survive and was dismissed for non-compliance.

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Issues: Whether the appellant's application seeking extension of time to make the pre-deposit was liable to be dismissed as infructuous, and whether the appeal could survive without compliance with the pre-deposit direction under the service tax regime.

Analysis: The appellant had been directed to deposit Rs. 15 lakhs within the stipulated time, but the record showed no compliance. The request for further time had already spent itself by the time the matter came up, and no effective steps were shown to have been taken to comply with the direction. In the absence of the required pre-deposit, the statutory requirement governing the appeal was not satisfied.

Conclusion: The request for extension of time was dismissed as infructuous, and the appeal was dismissed for non-compliance with the pre-deposit requirement.

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