Deemed withdrawal under the settlement scheme arises only after final certificate issuance, not mere quantification of payable tax.

Under the Kar Vivad Samadan Scheme, 1998, a pending appeal is deemed withdrawn only after the declarant pays the quantified settlement amount and the designated authority issues the final certificate in Form 3. Mere issuance of the initial quantification or determination of the amount payable does not satisfy the statutory condition for deemed withdrawal. Section 90(4) operates only from the date of the final certificate under section 90(2), so without full payment and certification the appeal continues to subsist. An order treating the appeal as withdrawn before that stage is unsustainable, and the appeal must be restored for decision on merits.

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Issues: Whether an appeal pending before the appellate authority under the Kar Vivad Samadan Scheme, 1998 ceases to exist and is deemed to be withdrawn upon issuance of the certificate determining the amount payable under the initial stage of settlement, or only upon issuance of the final certificate after payment of the quantified amount.

Analysis: The Scheme requires the declarant to make a declaration, after which the designated authority quantifies the tax arrears and the amount payable under section 90(1). The declarant must then pay the amount and furnish proof. Only after compliance does section 90(2) require issuance of the final certificate in Form 3 certifying full and final settlement. Section 90(4) operates only when such certificate under sub-section (2) is issued, and it is from that date alone that the pending appeal is deemed withdrawn. Where no Form 3 certificate has been issued because full payment has not been made, the statutory condition for deemed withdrawal is not satisfied.

Conclusion: The appeal did not cease to exist and was not deemed to have been withdrawn; the order treating it as so was set aside and the appeal was restored for decision on merits.

Ratio Decidendi: Under section 90 of the Finance (No. 2) Act, 1998, deemed withdrawal of a pending appeal occurs only upon issuance of the final certificate after full compliance with the settlement payment requirement, not upon mere quantification of the amount payable.

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