Pre-deposit requirement for tax revision: revision proceeded on merits without further deposit and recovery was stayed pending disposal.

The proviso to Section 70(2) of the Tripura Value Added Tax Act requires, before a revision petition is admitted, payment of at least fifty per cent of the assessed tax or, as the case may be, fifty per cent of the penalty levied. The text notes an interpretative dispute on whether payment of fifty per cent of either component is sufficient, but says that question was not reopened. On the facts, the petitioner had already paid the entire penalty and the balance was small, so the revision was allowed to proceed on merits without any further pre-deposit and recovery was restrained pending disposal.

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Issues: Whether the revision petition under Section 70 of the Tripura Value Added Tax Act, 2004 could be entertained without insisting on further pre-deposit, and whether further recovery proceedings should be stayed pending disposal of the revision.

Analysis: The proviso to Section 70(2) requires payment of at least fifty per cent of the amount of tax assessed or, as the case may be, fifty per cent of the amount of penalty levied before a revision petition can be admitted. The petitioner had already deposited the entire penalty amount. The Court noted the interpretative dispute regarding whether payment of fifty per cent of either the tax or the penalty would satisfy the proviso, but declined to reopen that question in the present matter. Considering the smallness of the balance amount and the payment already made, the Court granted relief on the facts of the case.

Conclusion: The revision petition was to be decided on merits without insisting on any further pre-deposit, and no further recovery could be made pending the revision.

Final Conclusion: The assessee obtained interim protection against recovery and was relieved from making any additional deposit for the revision to proceed.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the statutory pre-deposit threshold is substantially met on the facts of the case, the revisional authority may be directed to entertain the revision on merits without insisting on further deposit and may be restrained from effecting recovery pending disposal.

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