2018 (6) TMI 342 - AT - Customs

Condonation of delay of six months and eighteen days in filing the appeal - application for out of turn hearing - prosecution of appeal before wrong forum - Maintainability of appeal - revocation of courier licence - Held that - The appellant has given undertaking that they would prosecute the appeal only before the Tribunal and not before any other forum. On such an undertaking given by the appellant as well as the Counsel, the appeal is maintainable before the Tribunal and the delay which has occurred for prosecuting the appeal before the wrong forum is condoned and Registry is directed to take the appeal on record - Since the issue involved is revocation of courier licence, the matter needs to be decided either way at the earliest, accordingly the application for out-of-turn hearing is allowed - application allowed.

Issues Involved:
Condonation of delay in filing the appeal before the Tribunal against the Order-in-Original revoking the CDR licence of the appellant.

Analysis:
The application for condonation of delay was filed to excuse the delay of six months and eighteen days in filing the appeal before the Tribunal against the Order-in-Original revoking the CDR licence of the appellant. The appellant had initially filed a representation before the Chief Commissioner of Customs within the stipulated time after the order-in-original was passed. Subsequently, they were informed that an appeal against such an order lies with CESTAT, leading them to file an appeal before the Tribunal on 29/01/2018 along with the application for condonation of delay.

The appellant's counsel cited precedents to support the view that the appeal against the revocation of the courier licence lies before the Tribunal. The counsel referred to the cases of Bombino Express Pvt Ltd. v. Commissioner of Customs, Mumbai and Aramex India Pvt Ltd v Commissioner of Customs, Airport, Mumbai to substantiate this argument. The appellant also provided a copy of a letter addressed to the Chief Commissioner requesting the withdrawal of the representation, indicating their intention to prosecute only the appeal before the Tribunal.

Upon reviewing the records and the undertaking provided by the appellant and their counsel, it was determined that the appeal is maintainable before the Tribunal. The delay in prosecuting the appeal before the wrong forum was condoned, and the Registry was directed to take the appeal on record. Subsequently, an application for out-of-turn hearing of the appeal was filed, which was allowed due to the urgency of the matter concerning the revocation of the courier licence. The appeal was listed for disposal on 10th April 2018, and the applications for condonation of delay and out-of-turn hearing were granted. The application filed for the stay of operation of the impugned order was also disposed of in light of these decisions.

← Previous Next →