2019 (9) TMI 1219 - AT - Customs

Condonation of delay of about 4 years in filing appeal - rejection of refund claim - HELD THAT - The Proprietor has not enquired about the outcome of their appeal. It is only on 29.01.2019 that the very same Proprietor Shri Vinod Kumar has filed the RTI application requesting for details of the OIA. In reply to the RTI query, the department has furnished the number and date of the OIA and also provided a copy of the same. The date of despatch is mentioned as 11.04.2014 and the mode of despatch is also shown as Speed Post . The appellant has not preferred any appeal against the said reply furnished by the CPIO of the department under the RTI Act. There has been inordinate delay on the part of the appellant to file the appeal. The plea put forward by the appellant that department did not inform them as to whether the matter was referred to call book etc. is not reflected anywhere in the records. This is a mere assumption made by the appellant. There is huge delay in filing the appeal which remains unexplained by the appellant - COD application dismissed.

Summary

Issues:
Delay in filing appeal seeking condonation.

Analysis:
The appellant filed a COD application to condone a delay of about 4 ½ years in filing an appeal against the rejection of a refund claim. The appellant argued that they did not receive any intimation regarding the appeal status and only filed the appeal within 60 days of receiving a copy of the Order-in-Appeal (OIA) through an RTI application. The appellant claimed there was no wilful delay and requested condonation. On the other hand, the respondent strongly opposed the application, stating that the appellant attended a personal hearing in 2014 but did not follow up on the appeal outcome until filing the RTI query in 2019. The respondent argued that the appellant failed to explain the significant delay adequately. The respondent also highlighted that the department provided all necessary information in response to the RTI query, including details of despatch. The respondent contended that the delay was unjustified, and the COD application should be dismissed.

The Member (Judicial) observed that the appellant did not specify the number of days of delay in the COD application, which was calculated to be around 4 ½ years from the date of the OIA. The Member noted that the appellant's claim of non-communication of the OIA was contradicted by the fact that the appellant's proprietor attended a personal hearing in 2014. The appellant only inquired about the OIA details through an RTI application in 2019. The department provided the necessary information, including the despatch date and mode, in response to the RTI query. The Member found that the appellant did not challenge the department's response under the RTI Act, indicating a lack of effort to follow up on the appeal status. The Member concluded that the appellant's claim of non-communication was unsubstantiated and dismissed the COD application due to the unexplained and significant delay in filing the appeal. Consequently, the appeal was also dismissed.