Case Law Details
Manoranjan Dash Vs Commissioner (GSTAT)
No Further Pre-Deposit is Required Before the Appellate Tribunal Where the Amount Already Deposited Before the First Appellate Authority Exceeds the Specified Limit of Pre-Deposit Payable on the Reduced Demand: GSTAT Cuttack
The GST Appellate Tribunal, Cuttack in Manoranjan Dash v. Commissioner, Odisha, Commissionerate of CT GST & Ors. held that no further pre-deposit under Section 112(8) of the CGST Act is required for admission of an appeal where the amount already deposited before the First Appellate Authority under Section 107(6) exceeds the statutory pre-deposit payable on the reduced tax demand sustained in the first appeal. The appellant had challenged an order arising from proceedings under Section 73 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (CGST Act) after the First Appellate Authority reduced the original tax demand from ₹11,34,474 to ₹1,02,012. The Tribunal noted that the appellant had already deposited ₹1,13,447 during the first appeal, which covered the required pre-deposit of ₹10,201 for the Tribunal appeal. Relying on the Jharkhand High Court decision in M/s Ashirwad Food Industries v. Union of India, it held that no additional pre-deposit was required. However, the Tribunal directed the appellant to cure the short payment of ₹2,000 in statutory court fees under Rule 110(5) of the Central Goods and Services Tax Rules, 2017 (CGST Rules) before admission of the appeal. Upon payment of the requisite court fees and verification of the earlier pre-deposit, the Registry was directed to place the matter before the Bench for admission, with listing fixed for 22 July 2026.
Facts:
Mr. Manoranjan Dash (“the Appellant”) was served with a Show Cause Notice under Section 73 of the CGST Act, alleging excess availment of Input Tax Credit (“ITC”) to the tune of Rs. 5,67,237/- each under the Central Goods and Services Tax and the State Goods and Services Tax. The Adjudicating Authority confirmed the demand along with interest and penalty, i.e., tax of Rs. 11,34,474/-, interest of Rs. 2,52,878/- and penalty of Rs. 56,724/-.
Aggrieved by the Order-in-Original, the Appellant preferred an appeal before the First Appellate Authority and, while filing the said appeal, made a pre-deposit of 10% of the disputed tax, i.e., Rs. 1,13,447/-, in terms of Section 107(6) of the CGST Act, which stands duly reflected in the Electronic Liability Register of the Appellant.
The First Appellate Authority substantially reduced the demand and confirmed Rs. 1,02,012/- towards tax, Rs. 98,680/- towards interest and Rs. 10,202/- towards penalty (“the Impugned Order”). Aggrieved by the Impugned Order, the Appellant preferred the present appeal before the GST Appellate Tribunal, Cuttack.
The Registry issued a defect notice to the Appellant pointing out that the statutory pre-deposit had not been made and that the required Court fees had not been paid, since the Appellant had paid only Rs. 3,000/- as against the minimum Court fee of Rs. 5,000/- prescribed under Rule 110(5) of the CGST Rules.
The Appellant contended that, in terms of Section 112(8) of the CGST Act, the pre-deposit for filing the appeal before the Appellate Tribunal works out to Rs. 10,201/-, i.e., 10% of the tax in dispute of Rs. 1,02,012/-, and that the amount of Rs. 1,13,447/- already deposited during the first appellate proceedings duly covers the said requirement. Reliance was placed on the judgment of the Hon’ble Jharkhand High Court in M/s Ashirwad Food Industries v. Union of India [W.P.(T) No. 469 of 2026], wherein, on identical facts, it was held that no further pre-deposit is required where the deposit made at the first appellate stage exceeds the pre-deposit computed on the scaled-down demand.
Issue:
Whether any further pre-deposit is required to be made under Section 112(8) of the CGST Act for admission of an appeal before the Appellate Tribunal, where the amount already deposited before the First Appellate Authority under Section 107(6) of the CGST Act exceeds the pre-deposit payable on the reduced tax demand sustained in the first appeal?
Held:
The Hon’ble GST Appellate Tribunal, Cuttack in Filing No. 2025121101000004 held as under:
- Observed that, the quantum of pre-deposit to be made while preferring appeal before the First Appellate Authority and the Appellate Tribunal is prescribed in Section 107(6) and Section 112(8) of the CGST Act respectively. Section 112 of the CGST Act envisages payment of the full amount of admitted tax, interest, fine, fee and penalty and ten per cent of the remaining amount of tax in dispute as pre-deposit while preferring appeal before the Tribunal, which amount is in addition to the pre-deposit already made under Section 107 of the CGST Act while preferring appeal before the First Appellate Authority.
- Noted that, the First Appellate Authority has reduced the original demand of tax to Rs. 1,02,012/- and, in essence, the original demand of tax stands modified to the extent ordered by the First Appellate Authority.
- Noted that, the Appellant had already made a pre-deposit of ten per cent of the original disputed tax amounting to Rs. 1,13,447/- while preferring appeal before the First Appellate Authority, which covers the pre-deposit of Rs. 10,201/- required for filing the present appeal before the Appellate Tribunal.
- Relied upon the judgment of the Hon’ble Jharkhand High Court in M/s Ashirwad Food Industries (supra) and observed that the issue of pre-deposit decided by the Hon’ble High Court squarely applies to the present case of pre-deposit contested by the Appellant.
- Held that, no further pre-deposit is required to be made under Section 112 of the CGST Act.
- Directed that, the deficiency in payment of statutory Court fees be cured before admission of the appeal, noting that the Court fee payable under Rule 110(5) of the CGST Rules is Rs. 1,000/- for every one lakh rupees of demand, subject to a minimum of Rs. 5,000/-, whereas the Appellant had paid only Rs. 3,000/-, resulting in a short payment of Rs. 2,000/-, which the Appellant agreed to pay.
- Accordingly ordered that, upon proof of payment of the required statutory Court fees and verification of the pre-deposit made during the first appeal, the Registry shall place the matter before the Bench for orders regarding admission of the appeal, and listed the matter on July 22, 2026.
Our Comments:
The GST Appellate Tribunal, Cuttack has relied upon the statutory scheme contained in Section 107(6) and Section 112(8) of the CGST Act. Section 112(8)(b) of the CGST Act requires payment of a sum equal to ten per cent of the remaining amount of “tax in dispute”, “in addition to the amount paid under sub-section (6) of section 107”, arising from the order appealed against. Where the First Appellate Authority reduces the demand, the tax in dispute before the Appellate Tribunal is confined to the reduced demand sustained in the first appeal. Therefore, where the deposit already made at the first appellate stage, computed on the higher original demand, itself exceeds the pre-deposit payable on the reduced demand, insisting upon a fresh deposit would amount to an empty formality and would unnecessarily block the working capital of the taxpayer. The requirement of pre-deposit is a measure to demonstrate the bona fides of the appellant and to safeguard the interest of the Revenue pending appeal, and is not a mechanism of revenue collection.
The judgment relied upon in M/s Ashirwad Food Industries v. Union of India [W.P.(T) No. 469 of 2026] arose on similar facts, wherein the demand in the Order-in-Original was approximately Rs. 2.38 crores, against which the petitioner had made a pre-deposit of Rs. 23,85,182/- at the first appellate stage. The first appellate authority considerably scaled down the demand to approximately Rs. 40,00,000/-. The Hon’ble Jharkhand High Court held that, considering the deposit of Rs. 23.85 lakhs already made at the first appellate stage, there would be no question of making any further pre-deposit for instituting an appeal against the appellate order. The GST Appellate Tribunal, Cuttack has now applied the same ratio at the Tribunal level, lending certainty to the position.
Courts have consistently adopted a purposive approach on issues relating to pre-deposit. The Hon’ble Bombay High Court in Oasis Realty v. Union of India [Writ Petition (ST) No. 23507 of 2022, order dated September 16, 2022] held that the pre-deposit of 10% of the tax in dispute under Section 107(6)(b) of the CGST Act can be made by utilising the balance available in the Electronic Credit Ledger. Even under the erstwhile regime, the CBEC vide Circular No. 984/08/2014-CX dated September 16, 2014 clarified that payments made during investigation or audit shall be treated as deposits towards the mandatory pre-deposit under Section 35F of the Central Excise Act, 1944. Further, the CBIC vide Circular No. 224/18/2024-GST dated July 11, 2024 recognised the adjustment of amounts already paid towards a demand against the pre-deposit required for filing an appeal before the Appellate Tribunal. The present ruling is in harmony with this consistent position that amounts already lying with the exchequer against the very same demand must be reckoned towards the pre-deposit obligation.
Accordingly, taxpayers whose demands have been substantially reduced by the First Appellate Authority need not make any fresh pre-deposit before the GST Appellate Tribunal where the amount already deposited under Section 107(6) of the CGST Act equals or exceeds 10% of the reduced tax in dispute. While filing appeals before the Appellate Tribunal, the appellants should quantify the pre-deposit on the demand sustained in the first appeal, claim credit for the deposit already reflected in the Electronic Liability Register, and ensure payment of the correct Court fees under Rule 110(5) of the CGST Rules, i.e., Rs. 1,000/- for every one lakh rupees of demand, subject to a maximum of Rs. 25,000/- and a minimum of Rs. 5,000/-, so as to avoid defect notices from the Registry and consequential delay in admission of the appeal.
Relevant Provisions:
Section 112(8) of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017
“112. Appeals to Appellate Tribunal.-
(8) No appeal shall be filed under sub-section (1), unless the appellant has paid-
(a) in full, such part of the amount of tax, interest, fine, fee and penalty arising from the impugned order, as is admitted by him, and
(b) a sum equal to ten per cent of the remaining amount of tax in dispute, in addition to the amount paid under sub-section (6) of section 107, arising from the said order, subject to a maximum of twenty crore rupees, in relation to which the appeal has been filed.”
Section 107(6) of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017
“107. Appeals to Appellate Authority.-
(6) No appeal shall be filed under sub-section (1), unless the appellant has paid-
(a) in full, such part of the amount of tax, interest, fine, fee and penalty arising from the impugned order, as is admitted by him; and
(b) a sum equal to ten per cent. of the remaining amount of tax in dispute arising from the said order, subject to a maximum of twenty crore rupees, in relation to which the appeal has been filed.”
Rule 110(5) of the Central Goods and Services Tax Rules, 2017
“110. Appeal to the Appellate Tribunal.-
(5) The fees for filing of appeal or restoration of appeal shall be one thousand rupees for every one lakh rupees of tax or input tax credit involved or the difference in tax or input tax credit involved or the amount of fine, fee or penalty determined in the order appealed against, subject to a maximum of twenty five thousand rupees and a minimum of five thousand rupees:
Provided that the fees for filing of an appeal in respect of an order not involving any demand of tax, interest, fine, fee or penalty shall be five thousand rupees.”
FULL TEXT OF THE JUDGMENT/ORDER OF GSTAT
1. The appeal came up for consideration on the question of admission.
2. The Registry has issued a notice to the appellant for rectification of certain defects, pointing out that they have not made statutory pre-deposit and have not paid the required Court fees.
3. We heard the learned Counsel for the appellant.
4. Briefly, the facts are that the appellant was served with a show cause notice under Section 73 of the Central Goods and Services Act, 2017 (here in after referred to as ‘the Act’), alleging that the appellant had claimed excess Input Tax Credit to the tune of Rs.5,67,237/- each under Central Goods and Services Tax and State Goods and Services Tax. The adjudicating authority confirmed the demand, interest, and penalty. The appellant had preferred appeal to the learned First Appellate Authority against the said Order. The learned First Appellate Authority reduced the total amount to Rs. 1,02,012/, Rs. 98,680/- and Rs. 10,202/- towards tax, interest and penalty respectively. Against this appellate Order, the appellant has preferred the present appeal.
5. The questions before us are whether the appellant has rectified the defects pointed out by the Registry, whether the statutory Court fees have been paid by them and whether the Appellant is required to make statutory pre-deposit for admission of this Appeal.
6. The learned Counsel for the appellant submits that they have rectified all the defects pointed out by the Registry except the statutory pre-deposit and the Court fees. He submits that against the original demand of Rs. 11,34,474/- towards tax, Rs. 2,52,878/-towards interest and Rs. 56,724/- towards penalty, while filing appeal before the First Appellate Authority, they have already made a pre-deposit of 10% of the disputed tax, i.e. Rs. 1,13,447/-. The First Appellate Authority modified the original demand order and confirmed the demand of 1,02,012/- towards tax, Rs. 98,680/- towards interest and Rs. 10,202/- towards penalty, against which they have preferred the present appeal.
7. The learned Counsel while referring to sub-Section (8) of Section 112 of the Act submits that for an appeal to be admitted before the Appellate Tribunal, a taxpayer has to pay, out of the total tax demand, 100% of the tax admitted and a sum of 10% of the remaining amount of tax in dispute at the time of filing the appeal. Following the rationale, the pre-deposit for filing the appeal before the Appellate Tribunal works out to be Rs. 10,201/- i.e. 10% of the tax in dispute of Rs. 1,02,012/-. They have already deposited Rs. 1,13,447/- during the First Appellate proceedings reflecting in their Electronic Liability Register, which duly covers the pre-deposit as required for filing this appeal before the Appellate Tribunal.
8. The learned Counsel further contended that a similar issue was before the Hon’ble High Court of Jharkhand in the case of M/s Ashirwad Food Industries vs Union of India [ W.P.(T) No. 469 of 2026], wherein the Hon’ble Court has held that,
“6. Ms. Amrita Sinha, learned counsel for the petitioner, submits that at the first appellate stage, the petitioner had made a pre-deposit of Rs.23,85,182/- because the demand in the order in original was approximately Rs.2.38 crores. She submits that the first appellate authority has considerably scaled down the demand which is now approximately Rs.40,00,000/-. Accordingly, she submits that the pre-deposit of 20% Page 9 of 78 would come to around Rs.8,00,000/-. She further points out that since the petitioner has already made a pre-deposit of approximately Rs.23.85 lakhs, the Tribunal should not now insist upon any further pre-deposit.
7. We have perused the documents on record and based upon the same, we find substance in the contention advanced by Ms. Amrita Sinha. Considering the deposit of Rs.23.85 lakhs already made at the first appellate stage, we agree that there would be no question of making any further pre-deposit for instituting an appeal against the impugned order dated 30.06.2025.”
9. The learned Counsel prayed that the present appeal be admitted without making any further pre-deposit.
10. We have perused the matter. On the issue of statutory pre-deposit, the quantum of pre-deposit to be made while preferring appeal before the First Appellate Authority and the Appellate Tribunal is prescribed in sub-Section (6) of Section 107 and sub-Section (8) of Section 112 of the Act respectively.
11. The relevant extracts of both the provisions of the above Sections are reproduced below: “Section 112. Appeals to Appellate Tribunal. –
(8) No appeal shall be filed under sub-section (1), unless the appellant has paid-(a) in full, such part of the amount of tax, interest, fine, fee and penalty arising from the impugned order, as is admitted by him, and
(b) a sum equal to ten per cent of the remaining amount of tax in dispute, in addition to the amount paid under sub-section (6) of section 107, arising from the said order, subject to a maximum of twenty crore rupees, in relation to which the appeal has been filed.
“
………….
“Section 107. Appeals to Appellate Authority. –
………….
(6) No appeal shall be filed under sub-section (1), unless the appellant has paid-
a. in full, such part of the amount of tax, interest, fine, fee and penalty arising from the impugned order, as is admitted by him; and
b. a sum equal to ten per cent. of the remaining amount of tax in dispute arising from the said order, subject to a maximum of twenty crore rupees, in relation to which the appeal has been filed.
“ ………….
12. The Section 112 of the Act envisages payment of full amount of admitted tax, interest, fine, fee and penalty and ten per cent of the remaining amount of tax in dispute as pre-deposit while preferring appeal before the Tribunal. This amount is in addition to the pre-deposit already made under the Section 107 of the Act while preferring appeal before the First Appellate Authority. The fact before us is that the learned First Appellate Authority has reduced the original demand of tax to 1,02,012/-. In essence, the original demand of tax stands modified to the extent ordered by the learned First Appellate Authority. It is the submission of the learned Counsel that they have already made a pre-deposit of ten per cent of the original disputed tax amounting to Rs. 1,13,447/- during first appeal while preferring appeal before the First Appellate Authority, which covers the pre-deposit of Rs.10,201/- required for filing the present appeal before the Appellate Tribunal. We find that the issue of pre-deposit decided by the Hon’ble High Court in the case of M/s Ashirwad Food Industries (supra) squarely applies to the present case of pre-deposit contested by the Appellant. We are inclined to hold that no further pre-deposit is required to be made under the Section 112 of the Act. We order accordingly.
13. On the issue of Court fees, the sub-Rule (5) of the Rule 110 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Rules, 2017 governing Court fees states,
“Rule 110. Appeal to the Appellate Tribunal. –
………
(5) The fees for filing of appeal or restoration of appeal shall be one thousand
rupees for every one lakh rupees of tax or input tax credit involved or the difference in tax or in
put tax credit involved or the amount of fine, fee or penalty determined in the order appealed against, subject to a maximum of twenty five thousand rupees and a minimum of five thousand rupees:
Provided that the fees for filing of an appeal in respect of an order not involving any demand of tax, interest, fine, fee or penalty shall be five thousand rupees.(6) There shall be no fee for application made before the Appellate Tribunal for rectification of errors referred to in sub-section (10) of section 112.
“………………………
14. The Registry has sent a defect notice to the appellant that the Court fee payable is Rs. 1000/- for each one lakh Rupees of demand and the minimum Court fee to be paid is Rs.5000/-. However, the appellant has paid only Rs.3000/- as Court fee. Hence there is a short payment of Rs.2000!- The learned Counsel for the appellant agrees to pay the remaining statutory Court fees.
15. Upon proof of payment of the required statutory Court fees and verification of pre-deposit made during the first appeal by the appellant, the Registry shall place the matter before the Bench for Orders regarding admission of the appeal.
16. List the matter on 22nd July 2026.
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