Commissioner Of Central GST And Central Excise J And K Jammu vs. M/S V M Timber Industries Sicop Industrial Estate Kathua J And K

Held

The Court held that the delay of 1496 days in filing the appeal was not liable to be condoned. The Court observed that a similar issue regarding delay condonation on similar grounds had been dealt with by a Division Bench of the same High Court in CEA No. 10/2020, where the application was dismissed. Applying the ratio of the earlier decision, the Court found that the present delay condonation application was also not acceptable. Consequently, the appeal was dismissed as being barred by limitation. The operative direction was the dismissal of the appeal and all connected applications.

Facts

The Commissioner of Central GST and Central Excise (J&K) Jammu 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 delayed by 1496 days, and a separate application was filed seeking condonation of this delay. The appellant's counsel acknowledged that a similar issue had arisen in a prior appeal, CEA No. 10/2020, where the delay condonation application was dismissed by a Division Bench of the High Court on similar grounds. The present appeal, CEA No. 12/2023, was filed against the CESTAT order.

Key Issues

1. Whether the delay of 1496 days in filing the appeal under Section 35G of the Central Excise Act, 1944, is liable to be condoned? The petitioner/appellant argued that the delay was attributable to administrative reasons and that the issue involved was of significant importance. They relied on the principle that substantial justice should prevail over technicalities of limitation. The respondent did not file any reply or make submissions on the delay condonation application as recorded in the judgment. The Court noted that a similar delay condonation application in CEA No. 10/2020, with similar grounds, was dismissed by a Division Bench of the same High Court.