Mandatory pre-deposit under amended excise appeal law applies to all later-filed appeals, making unpaid appeals non-maintainable.

The substituted pre-deposit regime under Section 35F of the Central Excise Act makes a fixed mandatory deposit a condition for entertaining appeals, replacing the earlier discretionary waiver based on undue hardship. The express saving clause covers only stay applications and appeals already pending before the appellate authority when the Finance (No. 2) Act, 2014 commenced. Accordingly, appeals filed after commencement are governed by the amended provision regardless of the date of the show cause notice or adjudication order, and an appeal filed without the prescribed deposit is not maintainable.

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Issues: Whether the amended pre-deposit requirement under Section 35F of the Central Excise Act, 1944 applies to appeals filed after 6 August 2014, regardless of the date of the show cause notice or adjudication order, and whether appeals filed without the prescribed deposit are maintainable.

Analysis: The amended Section 35F replaced the earlier discretionary regime of waiver on undue hardship with a mandatory deposit of a fixed percentage before an appeal can be entertained. The second proviso expressly excludes only stay applications and appeals pending before the appellate authority prior to the commencement of the Finance (No. 2) Act, 2014, showing that appeals filed after commencement are governed by the new provision. The prior law did not confer an unrestricted right to appeal without deposit, and the substituted provision is more favourable in amount though mandatory in effect. The exclusion for pending matters confirms the legislative intent to apply the amended requirement to all later-filed appeals, irrespective of the period of dispute or the date of the impugned order.

Conclusion: The amended Section 35F applies to the appeals in question, the appeals were not maintainable without the prescribed pre-deposit, and dismissal was warranted.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a substituted pre-deposit provision contains an express saving clause only for pending appeals and stay applications, the amended mandatory deposit requirement applies to all appeals filed after its commencement.

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