Commissioner Of Central GST And Central Excise J And K Jammu vs. Bbf Industries LTD Igc Samba J And K

Facts

The Commissioner of CGST and Central Excise, Jammu, filed an appeal against a final order dated March 6, 2018, passed by CESTAT Chandigarh. The appeal, filed under Section 35G of the Central Excise Act, 1944, was delayed by 1266 days. The appellant sought condonation of this delay. The appellant's counsel acknowledged that a similar issue regarding condonation of delay on similar grounds had been raised in a previous appeal, CEA No. 10/2020. In that prior case, the Division Bench of the High Court had dismissed the appeal as being barred by limitation.

Held

The Court held that the application for condonation of delay was not acceptable. It found that the grounds urged for condonation of delay were similar to those presented in a previous appeal, CEA No. 10/2020. In that earlier case, the Division Bench of the High Court had dismissed the appeal as being barred by limitation. Applying the same reasoning, the present appeal, CEA No. 15/2023, was also dismissed as being barred by limitation. The operative direction was the dismissal of the appeal.

Key Issues

1. Whether the delay of 1266 days in filing the appeal under Section 35G of the Central Excise Act, 1944, is liable to be condoned? The petitioner (Commissioner of CGST and Central Excise, Jammu) argued that the delay was attributable to administrative reasons and sought condonation. The respondent (BBG Industries Ltd) did not appear to have made any specific arguments recorded in the judgment regarding the delay. The Court's decision was based on its previous ruling in a similar case.