CESTAT held that after the 2014 amendment to section 129E of the...

CESTAT held that after the 2014 amendment to section 129E of the Customs Act, 1962, neither the Tribunal nor the Commissioner (Appeals) possess the power to waive pre-deposit requirements. Multiple judicial precedents, including SC, Delhi HC, and MP HC decisions, consistently affirmed that statutory pre-deposit conditions are mandatory and cannot be circumvented due to financial constraints. The appellant failed to satisfy the mandatory pre-deposit provision, resulting in the direct dismissal of the appeal, with courts emphasizing that when a statute prescribes specific appeal conditions, those conditions must be strictly complied with as a prerequisite for appeal admission.