Electronic cash ledger pre-deposit treated as valid, allowing appeals to proceed on merits despite a redeposit objection.

Pre-deposits made through the electronic cash ledger were treated as valid for the statutory appeal requirement where the petitioners had paid the amount in DRC-03 through that ledger. The Court accepted the respondents' position that such payment was equivalent to cash payment on the facts presented, and treated the issue as covered by a coordinate Bench decision. A hyper-technical objection requiring refund and redeposit of the same amount was rejected, and the appellate authority was directed to accept the pre-deposit and decide the appeals on merits.

---

---

Issues: Whether pre-deposits made through the electronic cash ledger could be treated as valid pre-deposits for the purpose of the statutory appeal requirement.

Analysis: The petitions concerned only payments made through the electronic cash ledger, not deposits through the credit ledger. The record showed that the petitioners had made the required pre-deposits in DRC-03 through the electronic cash ledger, and the respondents' affidavit accepted that such payment was as good as cash payment in the facts of the case. The Court also treated the controversy as covered by the coordinate Bench decision relied upon and rejected the hyper-technical objection that would have required a refund and redeposit of the same amount.

Conclusion: The electronic cash ledger payments were held to be valid pre-deposits, and the appellate authority was directed to accept them and decide the appeals on merits.

---