Pre-deposit under GST appellate law is satisfied by full payment of the disputed demand; no further deposit can be demanded.

Where the entire disputed demand had already been deposited before the appeal, the pre-deposit condition for an appeal under Section 107 of the CGST Act was treated as satisfied and no further deposit could be insisted upon. The demand for an additional pre-deposit under Section 107(6)(a) or 107(6)(b) was therefore inapplicable, and refusal to entertain the appeal on that ground was unsustainable. The appeal was required to be heard on merits.

---

---

Issues: Whether, for an appeal under Section 107 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, the assessee could be required to make an additional pre-deposit under Section 107(6)(a) or Section 107(6)(b) when the entire disputed demand had already been deposited.

Analysis: The disputed demand had been deposited in full before the appeal was pursued. In such a situation, the statutory requirement of further pre-deposit was held to be inapplicable, because the purpose of the appellate deposit condition stood satisfied by the amount already paid. The refusal to entertain the appeal on the ground of non-payment of pre-deposit was therefore unsustainable.

Conclusion: The assessee was not liable to make any further pre-deposit, and the appeal had to be heard on merits.

---