2006 (11) TMI 474 - AT - Central Excise

Summary

Issues:
Delay in filing appeal, sufficiency of cause for condonation of delay.

Analysis:
The judgment pertains to an application filed by the Department (Appellant) seeking condonation of a 255-day delay in filing their appeal against an order of the Commissioner (Appeals). The Appellant received the order on 16-6-2005 but filed the appeal on 29-5-2006, with the aforementioned delay. The Appellant cited the reason for the delay as being unaware of a similar issue pending in the Supreme Court/High Court of Mumbai until receiving a letter from the Chief Commissioner of Central Excise, Chennai. The Appellant claimed that this information led to the delay in filing the appeal.

The Appellant's explanation for the delay was reiterated by the Ld. SDR, while the Ld. Consultant for the Respondent argued that the reasons provided were insufficient to justify the condonation of the delay. The Tribunal found that the Appellant failed to demonstrate sufficient cause for condonation of the significant delay in filing the appeal. It was noted that the decision to file an appeal against an appellate Commissioner's order should have been independently made by the Commissioner of Service tax, not based on advice from the Chief Commissioner of Central Excise, Chennai. The Tribunal highlighted that the mere existence of a similar issue pending before a court was not a valid reason for condonation of the delay. Additionally, the Tribunal observed that the Appellant took more than a month to file the appeal even after receiving correspondence from the Chief Commissioner.

Consequently, the Tribunal dismissed the application for condonation of delay due to the lack of sufficient cause, leading to the dismissal of the appeal itself. The judgment was dictated and pronounced in open court, emphasizing the importance of timely and independent decision-making in matters of appeal filing.