Pre-deposit under Punjab VAT appellate law is directory, allowing waiver in deserving cases and preventing dismissal for non-deposit.

The pre-deposit condition under Section 62(5) of the Punjab Value Added Tax Act, 2005 was treated as directory rather than mandatory, because the first appellate authority was held to have implied power to grant interim protection or waive deposit in deserving cases. Where insistence on deposit would frustrate the appeal, partial or complete waiver could be granted. On that basis, dismissal of the first appeal for non-deposit could not be sustained, and the orders were set aside with the matter remanded for fresh consideration in accordance with law.

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Issues: Whether the condition of pre-deposit under Section 62(5) of the Punjab Value Added Tax Act, 2005 was mandatory for entertaining the first appeal and whether the dismissal of the appeal for non-deposit could be sustained.

Analysis: The issue stood covered by the earlier decision which held that the first appellate authority has, by necessary implication, the power to grant interim protection or injunction under Section 62(5) of the Punjab Value Added Tax Act, 2005. The provision was held to be directory in nature, enabling the appellate authority to waive the pre-deposit condition partially or completely in deserving cases where insistence on deposit would frustrate the appeal. Following that ruling, the orders dismissing the appeal for want of pre-deposit were liable to be set aside and the matter was required to go back to the first appellate authority for fresh consideration in accordance with law.

Conclusion: The pre-deposit requirement was not mandatory in all cases, and the dismissal of the appeal for non-deposit could not stand. The orders were set aside and the matter was remanded to the first appellate authority.

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