Commissioner Of Central GST And Central Excise J And K Jammu vs. Krishi Rasayan Exports Private LTD Igc Samba J And K

Held

The Court held that the delay of 1473 days in filing the appeal was not liable to be condoned. 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 appeal filed with comparable grounds for condonation of delay. In that case, the Court had dismissed the appeal as barred by limitation. Applying the same logic and precedent to the present case, the Court found no reason to deviate from the earlier ruling. Consequently, the appeal and connected applications were dismissed solely on the ground of limitation. No decision was made on the merits of the case.

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 1473 days, and a separate application for condonation of delay was filed. The appellant's counsel conceded that a similar issue had arisen in a prior appeal, CEA No. 10/2020, where the appellant sought condonation of delay on similar grounds. However, the Division Bench of the High Court had dismissed that appeal as barred by limitation. The present appeal was also dismissed on the same grounds.

Key Issues

1. Whether the delay of 1473 days in filing the appeal under Section 35G of the Central Excise Act, 1944, is liable to be condoned. The petitioner argued for condonation of delay, relying on grounds presented in a prior, similar appeal. The respondent did not record any arguments. The Court had to decide if the grounds presented for delay were sufficient to overcome the significant delay, considering the precedent set by a previous Division Bench ruling on a similar application.