Mandatory pre-deposit requirement under tax appeal law cannot be waived absent exceptional hardship.

Where a statute makes pre-deposit a mandatory condition for maintaining an appeal, the High Court will not waive that requirement in the absence of exceptional hardship or other legally sustainable grounds. Under Section 62(5) of the Punjab Value Added Tax Act, 2005, an appeal could be entertained only after deposit of 25% of the total tax, penalty and interest, if any. The Court found no extreme hardship to justify exercise of Article 226 jurisdiction to relax the statutory condition. The challenge to the appellate and tribunal orders on the basis of non-compliance with the pre-deposit requirement therefore failed.

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Issues: Whether the petitioner was entitled to waiver of the mandatory pre-deposit under Section 62(5) of the Punjab Value Added Tax Act, 2005 and consequential interference under Article 226 of the Constitution of India despite non-compliance with the statutory condition for appeal.

Analysis: The statutory scheme required deposit of 25% of the total tax, penalty and interest, if any, before an appeal could be entertained. The Court found no extreme hardship warranting exercise of extraordinary writ jurisdiction to relax this mandatory requirement. The validity of the pre-deposit condition had already been upheld, and the petitioner's inability to comply did not justify bypassing the legislative mandate.

Conclusion: The petitioner was not entitled to waiver of the mandatory pre-deposit, and the challenge to the appellate and tribunal orders on that ground failed.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the statute makes pre-deposit a mandatory condition for maintaining an appeal, the High Court will not waive that requirement in the absence of exceptional hardship or other legally sustainable grounds.

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