Objective assessment of undue hardship is required before refusing waiver of pre-deposit under Section 35F.

Section 35F requires the authority considering waiver of pre-deposit to apply an objective test of undue hardship on the basis of the material placed by the appellant. A refusal to grant full waiver is unsustainable if the order does not show what material was examined or how the claimed financial hardship was assessed. On the facts noted, the appellate authority had not recorded any objective consideration of the evidence produced, so the denial of full waiver could not stand and the waiver application had to be reconsidered on remand.

---

---

Issues: Whether the appellate authority was required to consider undue hardship objectively and on the material produced while deciding the application for waiver of pre-deposit under Section 35F.

Analysis: The requirement under Section 35F is that the authority deciding waiver of pre-deposit must form an objective opinion on undue hardship on the basis of the material placed by the appellant. The impugned order did not indicate what material was considered or how the financial hardship pleaded was evaluated. In the absence of such objective consideration, the refusal to grant full waiver could not be sustained.

Conclusion: The matter was required to be sent back for fresh decision of the waiver application after objective consideration of the material produced by the petitioner.

---