Pre-deposit waiver in duty disputes depends on prima facie case and revenue security through attachment of properties.

Computer printouts used in a duty demand did not justify complete waiver of pre-deposit where the appellants failed to establish a strong prima facie case at the stay stage. The department had supplied the relied-upon material, including soft copy data from the hard disk, and the appellants had not collected the non-relied-upon documents. However, the department had already attached immovable properties under the attachment mechanism, and those assets were treated as sufficient security for the revenue. On that basis, complete waiver was declined on merits, but no further pre-deposit was required.

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Issues: Whether the appellants made out a prima facie case for complete waiver of pre-deposit in a duty demand based on computer printouts and whether the departmental attachment of immovable properties justified dispensing with any further deposit.

Analysis: The computer printouts were relied upon by the department and the appellants failed to show a strong prima facie case against the demand at the stay stage. The record also indicated that the department had supplied the relied upon material, including the soft copy of the hard disk data, and that the appellants had not collected the non-relied upon documents. At the same time, the department had already attached properties valued at about Rs. 87 crores under the relevant attachment mechanism, which sufficiently secured the duty demand.

Conclusion: The appellants were not entitled to complete waiver on merits alone, but no further pre-deposit was warranted in view of the attachment of properties securing the Revenue.

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