Cannot Waive The Statutory Mandate of Pre-Deposit Merely On The Plea Of Financial Hardships: Kerala High Court

Case: Santosh Kumar K. v. The Commissioner
Coram: Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas
Case No.: WP(C) NO. 25453 OF 2021
Court Observation: The court relied on a Supreme Court decision in Oil and Natural Gas Commission vs.
Gujarat, which stated that high courts cannot disregard statutory mandates. “I find no merit in this writ petition and the same is dismissed. However, liberty is granted to the petitioner to make the balance of the pre-deposit within a period of one month from the date of receipt of a copy of this judgement. If the said payment is made and the appeal is otherwise in accordance with law, necessarily the Tribunal
will consider and dispose of the appeal on merits,” the court said.