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2019 (8) TMI 1809 - HC - Central ExciseMaintainability of petition - requirement of deposit of 7.5% of the service tax demand confirmed - Section 35F of Central Excise Act, 1944 - HELD THAT:- It is trite that no court can issue a direction to any authority, to act in violation of the law. A reading of Section 35F of the Central Excise Act reveals, by the usage of the peremptory words “shall not” therein, that there is an absolute bar on the CESTAT entertaining any appeal, under Section 35 of the said Act, unless the appellant has deposited 7.5 % of the duty confirmed against it by the authority below - The two provisos in Section 35F relax the rigour of this command only in two respects, the first being that the amount to be deposited would not exceed ₹ 10 crores, and the second being that the requirement of pre-deposit would not apply to stay applications or appeals pending before any authority before the commencement of the Finance (No.2) Act, 2014, i.e. before 6th August, 2014. Allowing the CESTAT to entertain an appeal, preferred by an assessee after 6th August, 2014, would, therefore, amount to allowing the CESTAT to act in violation, not only of the main body of Section 35F but also of the second proviso thereto, and would reduce the command of the legislature to a dead letter - the prayer of the petitioner for being permitted to prosecute its appeal before the CESTAT without complying with the condition of mandatory pre-deposit, cannot be granted. There is, therefore no substance in these writ petitions which are, consequently, dismissed. Petition dismissed.
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