Coercive recovery could not be used to defeat a subsisting...

Coercive recovery could not be used to defeat a subsisting statutory right of appeal where the appeal period under the Act and the relevant notification had not expired. The High Court protected the petitioner from recovery because the petitioner stated an intention to file an appeal with a stay application within the available period; if the appeal is filed, the statutory pre-deposit requirement of 10% would apply and recovery would not be pursued in any event. The petition was disposed of with liberty to the Department to recover dues in accordance with law if no appeal is filed, while all merits were kept open.