Pre-deposit condition for stay reduced to 10% of disputed tax while Tribunal remains unconstituted.

Pending constitution of the Tribunal, the stay condition on the first appellate order was aligned with the reduced statutory pre-deposit requirement. The court accepted that the revised condition applied to the State revenue as well, so the assessee was not required to make any higher deposit for the stay to continue. The operative deposit condition was fixed at 10% of the remaining disputed tax, preserving the stay on that basis.

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Issues: Whether, pending constitution of the Tribunal, the assessee was required to deposit 10% of the remaining disputed tax for the impugned first appellate order to remain stayed.

Analysis: The petitioner's grievance was that the appellate remedy could not yet be pursued before the Tribunal and that the deposit condition for stay had been correspondingly reduced by the relevant governmental notification. The Court accepted that the reduced pre-deposit requirement applied to the State revenue as well and that the stay condition should be aligned accordingly.

Conclusion: The deposit condition for continuation of stay was fixed at 10% of the remaining disputed tax, in favour of the petitioner.

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