Pre-deposit relief in stay matters may be reduced to prevent hardship while still securing revenue interests.

In stay proceedings, the Tribunal balanced the appellants' financial hardship, the closure of the factory, and the disputed duty and penalty demands against the need to secure revenue. It found that insisting on full pre-deposit would cause undue hardship, but complete waiver was not justified because part of the demand was still in issue, including a stated time-bar contention on after-sales service charges. The Tribunal therefore granted only partial waiver of pre-deposit and directed a reduced cash deposit with a bank guarantee, while protecting recovery of the balance during the pendency of the appeal.

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Issues: Whether the appellants were entitled to full waiver of pre-deposit in the stay applications, or only partial relief in view of the financial hardship and the nature of the demands.

Analysis: The Tribunal examined the competing considerations of the disputed duty and penalty amounts, the closure of the factory, the claimed financial strain, and the fact that a part of the demand relating to after-sales service charges was stated to be time-barred. On that basis, it held that insisting on full deposit would cause undue hardship, but complete waiver was not warranted in the circumstances. The Tribunal therefore balanced the need for security of revenue against the appellants' financial position by directing a reduced cash deposit and bank guarantee, while protecting recovery of the balance during the pendency of the appeal.

Conclusion: The stay applications were allowed only to the extent of partial waiver of pre-deposit, with conditional deposit and bank guarantee relief granted in favour of the appellants.

Final Conclusion: The dispute was not finally decided on the merits, but the appellants obtained conditional interim relief against coercive recovery by satisfying the reduced pre-deposit terms.

Ratio Decidendi: In stay matters, pre-deposit may be modified to the extent necessary to prevent undue hardship while still securing the revenue.

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