D. S. SINHA, J. ( 1 ) THIS Full Bench, on a reference by a Division Court, is called upon to consider and decide the following question. "whether on a true interpretation of the provisions of S. 9 (1-B) (b) of the U. P. Sales Tax Act the deposit of 20 percent of the assessed tax is necessary in a situation when neither any return has been filed by the assessee nor any tax liability has been admitted by the assessee at any stage of the proceedings. ". ( 2 ) MATERIAL part of S. 9 of the U. P. Sales Tax Act, 1948, hereinafter called the Act, is as below"section 9, Appeal. (1) Any dealer or other person aggrieved by an order made by the Assessing Authority, other than an order mentioned in S. 10-A, may, within thirty days from the date of service of the copy of the order, appeal to such authority as may be prescribed : provided that where the disputed amount of tax, fee or penalty does not exceed one thousand rupees the appellant may, at his option, request the Appellate Authority in writing for summary disposal of his appeal, whereupon the Appellate Authority may decide the appeal accordingly. (1-A) The manner and procedure of summary disposal of appeal shall be such as may be prescribed. (1-A) The manner and procedure of summary disposal of appeal shall be such as may be prescribed. (1-B) No appeal against an assessment order under this Act shall be entertained unless the appellant has furnished satisfactory proof of the payment of not less than - (A) the amount of tax or fee due under this Act on the turnover of sales or purchases, as the case may be, admitted by the appellant in the returns filed by him or at any stage in any proceedings under this Act, whichever is greater where all the returns for the assessment year have been filed, or (B) the amount of tax or fee due under this Act on the turnover of sales or purchases, as the case may be, admitted by the appellant in the returns, if any, filed by him or at any stage in any proceedings under this Act, or twenty percent of the amount of tax or fee assessed, whichever is greater, where some of the returns for the assessment year have not been filed or no return has been filed for such year : provided that the Appellate Authority may, for special and adequate reason to be recorded in writing, waive or relax the requirement of the Clause (b) of this sub-section in so far as it relates to deposit of twenty percent of the amount of tax or fee assessed. " ( 3 ) IT appears that the petitioners were assessed to sales tax under the provisions of the Act. Aggrieved by the assessment, the petitioners preferred appeal u/s. 9 of the Act. Alongwith the appeal they also applied for waiver of the requirement of cl. (b) of sub-s. (1-B) of S. 9 of the Act with regard to deposit of 20 percent of the amount of tax assessed. In exercise of its power under proviso to sub-s. (1-B) of the Act, the Appellate Authority called upon the petitioners to deposit 10 percent of the disputed tax and relaxed the requirement of cl. (b) of sub-s. (1-B) of S. 9 of the Act relating to remaining 10 percent of the disputed tax. In exercise of its power under proviso to sub-s. (1-B) of the Act, the Appellate Authority called upon the petitioners to deposit 10 percent of the disputed tax and relaxed the requirement of cl. (b) of sub-s. (1-B) of S. 9 of the Act relating to remaining 10 percent of the disputed tax. The petitioners were not satisfied with the relaxation of ten percent of the disputed tax granted by the Appellate Authority and they filed second appeal before the Sales Tax Tribunal under sub-s. (2) of S. 10 of the Act praying for total relaxation of the requirement of deposit of twenty percent of the disputed tax for entertaining the appeal. The Tribunal allowed the appeal partly and directed the petitioners to deposit five percent of the disputed tax for the purpose of maintaining the appeal u/ S. 9 of the Act. The orders passed by the Tribunal as well as the Appellate Authority are under challenge in the writ petition. ( 4 ) BEFORE the learned single Judge, who heard the petition in limine, reliance was placed, on behalf of the petitioners, upon the decision rendered by this Court in the case of Atma Ram Misra v. Commr. Sales Tax, U. P. 1987 UPTC 547, wherein it has been held that cl. (b) of 9 (1-B) of the Act does not say that 20 percent of the amount of tax assessed is required to be deposited before the entertainment of the appeal, if that is greater to nil admitted liability. The correctness of the said views was disputed by the Revenue. The learned single Judge felt satisfied that there was substance in the argument raised on behalf of the Revenue and he considered it proper that the question might authoritatively be determined by a larger Bench. The learned single Judge, therefore, admitted the petition and referred the case for decision by an appropriate Bench vide order dated 11th Nov. 1987. ( 5 ) CONSEQUENT upon the reference by the learned single Judge the case came up for consideration before a Division Court which, in turn, felt that the question referred by the learned single Judge was of vital importance, both to the assessees under the Act as well as the Revenue, and, for that reason, it would be expedient and appropriate that the controversy be decided by a Full Bench. Accordingly, the Division Court vide its order dated 18/12/1989 referred the question to a Full Bench. ( 6 ) THE decision of this Court in Atma Ram Misra v. Commr. Sales Tax, U. P. (Supra) was challenged in appeal by the Revenue before the Honble Supreme Court of India. Honble the Supreme Court did not approve the interpretation of cl. (b) of sub-s. (1-B) of S. 9 of the Act put by this Court in the said case of Atma Ram Misra. While reversing the decision of this Court, Honble Supreme Court in its judgment, in the appeal of Commr. of Sales Tax, U. P. Lucknow v. M/s. Atma Ram Misra, reported in AIR 1990 SC 1138 , has held that "clause (b) deals with the situation where (a) some, though not all, the returns due from the assessee have been filed and (b) no return at all has been filed. In this eventuality, the requirement of deposit turns not merely on the admitted amount of tax (as there may be no such admitted tax where no return at all has been filed) but is also made to turn on the assessed tax. The provision requires the assessee to deposit the amount of tax admitted in the returns or at any stage of the proceedings under the Act or 20% of the amount of tax assessed, whichever was greater. In other words, the provision contemplates a comparison of (i) the admitted tax and (ii) 20% of the assessed tax. Whichever of these two figures is higher has to be deposited by the assessee before his appeal against the assessment can be entertained". ( 7 ) HONble Supreme Court points out that there"are perhaps two ways of reading Cl. (b ). One is that, in a case where no return at all has been filed and no admission had at all been made by the assessee of any figure of turnover, then the first figure to be computed under cl. (b) will be Zero. If, however, there is an assessment made on the assessee of any tax higher than nil, that will be the greater of the two figures to be computed under the clause and the assessee will have to deposit 20% of the assessed tax. The other way of interpreting the sub-section, which appears to have commended itself to the High Court, is to say that cl. The other way of interpreting the sub-section, which appears to have commended itself to the High Court, is to say that cl. (b) will be attracted only if two figures are available for comparison : (1) a figure of turnover admitted in a return or in subsequent proceedings; and (2) a figure of assessed tax. If the assessee has filed no return at all and if he has made no admission regarding his turnover at any stage of the proceedings, then figure (1) above cannot be computed. Hence it is not possible to make a comparison between the two figures indicated above and therefore the provisions of deposit contained in cl. (b) will not at all apply". ( 8 ) ACCEPTING the first of the two constructions quoted above Honble Supreme Court concluded that the "clear intent of the clause is that an assessee should be asked to pay up the admitted tax or 20% of the assessed tax, whichever is greater, before an appeal could be entertained and the provision should be interpreted in such a way as to give effect to this intent. " ( 9 ) IN view of the aforesaid decision of the Honble Supreme Court, the question referred to us has ceased to be res integra and has got to be answered in the affirmative, that is to say that, under the provisions of S. 9 (1-B) (b) of the Act, deposit of 20% of the assessed tax, unless waived or relaxed, is sine qua non for maintaining an appeal u/ S. 9 of the Act. ( 10 ) LET the writ petition be placed before the Bench concerned for decision in the light of what has been observed above. Ordered accordingly.