2005 (12) TMI 303 - AT - Central Excise

Summary

Issues:
Delay in filing appeals against impugned notification under Customs Tariff Act, condonation of delay, jurisdiction of the Tribunal, directions of the High Court.

Analysis:
The appellants filed applications seeking condonation of a delay of 786 days in filing appeals against an impugned notification issued by the Central Government under Section 9A(1) and (5) of the Customs Tariff Act. The delay was attributed to the finalization of provisional assessments of anti-dumping duty in May 2004, and pursuing remedies before the Commissioner (Appeals). The applicants had challenged a specific paragraph of the impugned notification in a Writ Petition, which was decided on 4-4-2005. It was argued that due to this petition, the appeals against the impugned notification were not filed earlier. However, following the High Court's directions, the appeals were now filed with a request to condone the delay.

The designated authority contended that the petitions were filed before the High Court after the prescribed period of limitation for filing appeals under Section 9A before the Tribunal against the notification dated 10-12-2002. It was emphasized that by the time the petition was filed before the High Court, the appeals under Section 9C would have been time-barred by almost one and a half years. The authority argued that no sufficient cause was shown for the delay and, therefore, requested that the delay not be condoned.

The Tribunal noted that the averments made in the applications for condonation of delay were not contradicted by any affidavit in reply. The High Court's order dated 4-4-2005 indicated that the respondents had stated before the Court that the petitioners could challenge the determination, including the correctness of a specific clause in the notification dated 10-12-2002. The High Court directed the applicants to prefer appeals under Section 9C of the Act with liberty to raise contentions against the notification's validity. The Tribunal observed that the High Court's directions amounted to a virtual instruction to condone the delay in filing the appeals. Consequently, the Tribunal allowed both applications, condoned the delay, and directed the appeals to be finally heard since they were already scheduled for a hearing.

In conclusion, the Tribunal, following the High Court's directions, allowed the condonation of the delay in filing the appeals against the impugned notification under the Customs Tariff Act. The Tribunal emphasized the importance of complying with judicial directives and proceeded to schedule the appeals for a final hearing.