Mandatory pre-deposit for debt recovery appeals cannot be waived entirely; the tribunal may only reduce the deposit within statutory limits.

Section 21 of the Recovery of Debts and Bankruptcy Act, 1993 treats pre-deposit as a condition precedent to entertainment of an appeal: the appellant must deposit fifty per cent of the debt determined by the DRT, and the Appellate Tribunal may reduce that amount only to not less than twenty-five per cent. The provision does not authorise a complete waiver. The text also notes that the similar pre-deposit scheme under Section 18 of the SARFAESI Act follows the same mandatory model, while authorities under Section 35F of the Central Excise Act are not directly comparable because that provision contains an express undue hardship standard and discretion to dispense with deposit.

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Issues: Whether the Debts Recovery Appellate Tribunal was justified in declining waiver of the pre-deposit required for entertainment of the appeal under Section 21 of the Recovery of Debts and Bankruptcy Act, 1993.

Analysis: Section 21 creates an absolute bar on entertainment of an appeal unless the appellant deposits fifty per cent of the debt due as determined by the Debts Recovery Tribunal. The proviso empowers the Appellate Tribunal only to reduce the deposit to not less than twenty-five per cent; it does not confer power to waive the deposit altogether. The corresponding pre-deposit provision in Section 18 of the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Securities Interest Act, 2002 reflects the same mandatory scheme, and the authorities dealing with Section 35F of the Central Excise Act, 1944 are inapposite because that provision contains an express undue hardship standard and a discretion to dispense with deposit.

Conclusion: The refusal to grant complete waiver of pre-deposit was in law, and no interference was warranted.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the statute makes pre-deposit a condition precedent for an appeal and permits only limited reduction of the deposit, the appellate forum has no power to waive the deposit in full.

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