Mandatory pre-deposit under foreign exchange law justified dismissal where the appellant failed to comply after dispensation was refused.

Where the governing foreign exchange statute made pre-deposit of the penalty a condition for entertaining the appeal, the appellate authority could dismiss the matter for non-compliance. The appellant had sought dispensation on undue hardship, but that request was rejected and the appellant still failed to make the required deposit despite opportunity. In these circumstances, the Tribunal applied the statutory scheme and held that it was entitled to reject the appeal without examining the merits. The appeal was therefore not entertained and stood dismissed for failure to satisfy the mandatory pre-deposit requirement.

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Issues: Whether the appeal could be dismissed for non-compliance with the statutory pre-deposit requirement under the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1973.

Analysis: The appeal was subject to the statutory obligation of depositing the penalty amount before it could be entertained, unless dispensation was granted on the ground of undue hardship. The appellant had already sought dispensation, which was rejected, and thereafter failed to comply with the deposit requirement despite opportunity. The Tribunal relied on the statutory scheme and the settled principle that when an appellant does not comply with the mandatory deposit requirement or with an order passed in relation to it, the appellate authority may reject the appeal and cannot proceed to examine it on merits.

Conclusion: The appeal was liable to be dismissed for non-compliance with the pre-deposit requirement, and dismissal on that ground was justified.

Final Conclusion: The statutory condition for maintaining the appeal was not fulfilled, so the appeal was not entertained and stood dismissed.

Ratio Decidendi: Where pre-deposit of the penalty is mandatory under the governing statute, failure to comply with that requirement or with an order dispensing with it empowers the appellate authority to dismiss the appeal without going into the merits.

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