Pre-deposit refund with interest accrues from appellate order after appeal succeeds; separate refund application not required.

A pre-deposit made to pursue a statutory appeal is not tax or duty; it is a deposit linked only to the right of appeal, so the ordinary refund machinery for tax paid does not govern it in the same manner. Once the appeal succeeds, the pre-deposit becomes refundable, and interest runs from the date the refund becomes due after the appellate order. A separate refund application was not a prerequisite for refund or accrual of interest.

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Issues: Whether the amount deposited as a pre-deposit for pursuing the statutory appeal was refundable with interest from the date of the Tribunal's order, and whether the refund claim could be denied for want of a separate refund application under the refund provision.

Analysis: The deposit made for pursuing the appellate remedy was held not to be tax or duty, but a pre-deposit linked only to the right of appeal. On that footing, the refund machinery dealing with refund of tax paid by a dealer did not govern such a deposit in the same manner as an ordinary tax refund claim. The Court accepted that once the appeal succeeded, the pre-deposit became refundable, and the statutory interest provision applied from the date the refund became due after the appellate order. The contrary argument that a formal refund application was indispensable before refund or interest could accrue was rejected as inconsistent with the character of a pre-deposit.

Conclusion: The petitioner was entitled to refund of the pre-deposit together with interest computed from the date of the Tribunal's order till actual payment.

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