AN Appellant is required to make payment of specified percentage of disputed tax dues (commonly referred to as mandatory pre-deposit) for filing appeal against an adjudication order / first appeal order. Upon payment of such amount, a stay is granted against recovery of the balance disputed tax dues as per the order appealed against in pendency of the appeal proceedings. Under the erstwhile Central Indirect tax laws, payment of mandatory pre-deposit using CENVAT credit balance was widely practiced. Even under the GST regime, some taxpayers have adopted a position that mandatory pre-deposit for appeal filing can be paid using electronic credit ledger balance. However, the issue has been litigious and the tax / appellate authorities in various cases have been insisting payment of mandatory pre-deposit only in cash. Recent decision of the Orissa High Court The controversy around this issue is further fueled by the recent decision of the Orissa High Court in the case of J...