Commissioner Of Central GST And Central Excise J And K Jammu vs. M/S Hari Narain Industries Sidco Igc Samba J And K

Held

The Court held that the delay of 1511 days in filing the appeal was not liable to be condoned. The Court noted that a similar issue had arisen in CEA No. 10/2020, where the appellant had sought condonation of delay on similar grounds. In that case, a Division Bench of the High Court had dismissed the appeal as barred by limitation. Applying the same reasoning, the Court found that the present appeal was also barred by limitation. The ratio decidendi is that if a similar delay condonation application on similar grounds has been dismissed by a Division Bench of the same High Court, then a subsequent, similar application should also be dismissed. The appeal and all connected applications were dismissed.

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 an order dated March 6, 2018, passed by CESTAT Chandigarh. The appeal was delayed by 1511 days, and a separate application for condonation of delay was filed. The appellant's counsel acknowledged that a similar issue had arisen in a previous 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 was filed against M/s Hari Narain Industries SIDCO.

Key Issues

1. Whether the delay of 1511 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 sought condonation. The respondent did not record any arguments. The Court had to decide if the grounds presented for the delay were sufficient to overcome the significant time lapse and if the precedent set in a similar case should be followed.