Commissioner Of Central GST And Central Excise J And K Jammu vs. M/S Hard Castle Petrofer PVT LTD Sicop Industrial Estate Kathua

Held

The Court dismissed the appeal as being barred by limitation. The reasoning was based on a prior decision by a Division Bench of the same High Court in CEA No. 10/2020, which dealt with a similar application for condonation of delay on comparable grounds. The Court found that the reasoning and decision in that previous case applied directly to the present appeal. Therefore, the application for condonation of delay was not accepted, leading to the dismissal of the appeal. No specific issues regarding the merits of the original CESTAT order were decided.

Facts

The Commissioner of Central GST and Central Excise (J&K) Jammu, the appellant, filed an appeal under Section 35G of the Central Excise Act, 1944, against a final order dated March 6, 2018, passed by CESTAT Chandigarh. The appeal was significantly delayed by 970 days, and the appellant sought condonation of this delay. The appellant's counsel acknowledged that a similar issue concerning delay condonation had arisen in a previous appeal, CEA No. 10/2020, which was dismissed by a Division Bench of the High Court on similar grounds.

Key Issues

1. Whether the delay of 970 days in filing the appeal should be condoned. Petitioner's Arguments: The petitioner sought condonation of delay, urging similar grounds as presented in a previous, related appeal. Revenue/State's Arguments: The judgment does not record specific arguments from the revenue/State regarding the delay condonation. However, the appellant's counsel conceded that the grounds were similar to those in a previously dismissed appeal.