GST pre-deposit may be discharged through the Electronic Credit Ledger, and the appeal must be heard on merits.

Under the GST appellate scheme, the statutory 10% pre-deposit for filing an appeal need not be made exclusively from the Electronic Cash Ledger where a part is paid through the Electronic Credit Ledger. The Court noted that the coordinate Bench view on this issue had been stayed by the Supreme Court and that the later departmental notification on delayed appeals reflected a payment structure permitting use of the Electronic Credit Ledger. Because the petitioner had already remitted the required 10% from the Electronic Credit Ledger, the appeal could not be treated as non-maintainable on that ground and was directed to be considered on merits.

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Issues: Whether the statutory pre-deposit of 10% for filing an appeal under the GST regime can be discharged from the Electronic Credit Ledger, and whether the appeal should be entertained on merits despite the appellate rejection.

Analysis: The Court noted that the coordinate Bench view on the issue had been stayed by the Supreme Court and that the later departmental notification concerning delayed appeals also reflected a scheme in which a part of the required payment could be made through the Electronic Credit Ledger. In that situation, and pending the Supreme Court's decision, insistence on payment from the Electronic Cash Ledger alone was held not to be appropriate. Since the petitioner had already remitted 10% from the Electronic Credit Ledger, the appeal could not be treated as non-maintainable on that ground.

Conclusion: The pre-deposit could not be insisted upon exclusively from the Electronic Cash Ledger, and the appeal was directed to be considered on merits.

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