Mandatory pre-deposit for tribunal appeals cannot be replaced by a bank guarantee absent statutory permission.

Section 63(4) of the Karnataka Value Added Tax Act requires an appeal to the Appellate Tribunal to be accompanied by proof of payment of 30% of the disputed tax and the prescribed fee, making statutory deposit a condition precedent to entertainment of the appeal. The appellate authority has no discretion to reduce, waive, or substitute that requirement with a bank guarantee unless the statute expressly permits it. An earlier interim direction allowing a bank guarantee did not override the mandatory deposit requirement for the Tribunal appeal, so the requested relief was rejected and the petitioner had to make the statutory deposit before the appeal could proceed.

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Issues: Whether the pre-deposit of 30% of the disputed tax and the prescribed fee under Section 63(4) of the Karnataka Value Added Tax Act, 2003 could be waived or satisfied by a bank guarantee for entertaining the appeal before the Appellate Tribunal.

Analysis: Section 63(4) mandates that an appeal be accompanied by proof of payment of 30% of the disputed tax or other amount and a fee equal to 2% of the amount of assessment objected to. The requirement operates at the stage of filing the appeal, and the appeal is not entertainable until the statutory deposit is made. The provision confers no discretion on the appellate authority to reduce, waive, or substitute the deposit by a bank guarantee. The earlier direction permitting a bank guarantee in the context of interim relief before the first appellate authority did not alter the statutory requirement governing the subsequent appeal to the Tribunal.

Conclusion: The petitioner was not entitled to insist that a bank guarantee be treated as compliance with the mandatory pre-deposit requirement, and the requested relief was rejected.

Final Conclusion: The writ petition failed, and the petitioner was required to make the statutory deposit before the Tribunal could consider the appeal in accordance with law.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the statute makes pre-deposit a condition precedent for entertainment of an appeal, the appellate authority has no power to waive the deposit or accept a bank guarantee in its place unless the statute expressly so permits.

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