Mandatory pre-deposit under Customs law may be conditionally extended, allowing appeal to be heard on merits after compliance.

Statutory pre-deposit under Section 129(E) of the Customs Act was treated as mandatory, but the petitioner's willingness to comply led the HC to grant limited time to make the deposit and permit adjustment of the amount already paid during investigation, subject to costs. Upon compliance, the appellate authority was directed to hear and decide the appeal on merits. The rejection order was set aside conditionally, and failure to comply within the stipulated time would cause the relief to lapse and the impugned order to revive.

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Issues: Whether the petitioner could be granted time to make the statutory pre-deposit under Section 129(E) of the Customs Act, 1962 and obtain a direction for the appeal to be heard on merits.

Analysis: The writ petition arose from rejection of the appeal for non-compliance with the mandatory pre-deposit requirement. The petitioner expressed willingness to make the deposit and sought adjustment of the amount already paid during investigation against the pre-deposit. In view of that readiness, the Court permitted compliance with the statutory requirement within a fixed time, imposed costs as a condition, and directed that upon compliance the appellate authority would hear and decide the appeal on merits. The impugned rejection order was set aside, with the safeguard that non-compliance would cause the benefit of the order to fail and the impugned order to revive.

Conclusion: The petitioner was granted conditional relief to satisfy the pre-deposit requirement, and upon compliance the appeal was to be adjudicated on merits.

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