Chhattisgarh HC says Appellate Authority Cannot Waive Mandatory Pre-Deposit Under Section 107

The Chhattisgarh High Court held that payment of the prescribed pre-deposit under Section 107(6) of the CGST Act is a mandatory condition for maintaining an appeal before the Appellate Authority. The authority cannot dispense with or reduce this requirement in the absence of an express statutory power permitting such relaxation. The taxpayer's inability to arrange the prescribed deposit does not create such a power. Accordingly, the Court declined to interfere with the dismissal of the appeal for non-compliance with the pre-deposit requirement.