[22. Appeals. —(1) A dealer or any other assesses objecting to an order passed by the Petrol Taxation Officer may within 30 days from the date on which he is served with a notice of demand appeal to such Appellate Authority as the Government may authorise in this behalf :
Provided that such Authority may admit an appeal after the said period of 30 days if it is satisfied that the appellant had sufficient cause for not preferring the appeal within the said period :
Provided further that no appeal shall be entertained by such Authority unless it is satisfied that––
(a) where the return or returns for the month or year has/have been filed, the amount of tax due under this Act on the turnover of sales admitted by the appellant in the return or returns filed by him or at any stage in any proceedings under this Act, whichever is higher, has been paid ; or
(b) where some of the returns for the period under appeal have not been filed or no return has been filed for the period under appeal, the amount of tax due under this Act, admitted by the appellant in the returns, if any filed by him or at any stage in any proceedings under this Act, or 50 of the amount of tax assessed, whichever is higher, has been paid ; or
(c) in case the appeal is against the imposition of penalty, 50 of the penalty levied has been paid :
Provided that the Appellate Authority may for reasons to be recorded in writing stay the recovery of the disputed amount of tax and penalty. However, the stay will not cover the amount of tax or penalty payable under clauses (a), (b) and (c).
Exception.––Nothing in this section shall apply to the cases where the Commissioner makes an order extending the date of payment under clause (c) of section 23-B.]