2004 (2) TMI 398

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..... une, 2002; that the Appeal has been filed on 6-8-2003 after a delay of 322 days from the date of service of the impugned order in original; that the delay in filing the Appeal is due to a fraud perpetrated upon the Appellant by their consultant Shri Naresh Pal Gupta; that the Appellant being semi-educated, had heavily relied upon his consultant and handed over all the documents, who had not only deceived them but also kept them in dark about the entire proceedings; that they had diligently pursued their case to the best of their capabilities and had taken all reasonable steps to present their case; that, therefore, they cannot be held guilty of negligence or latches. Finally, the learned Advocate submitted that the Appellants have a very go .....

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..... mitted that the decision relied upon by the Applicants is not applicable to the facts of the present matter; that in the said case, M/s. Candid Enterprises had relied upon the opinion of the Tanning Expert and Superintendent, Government Institute of Leather and Technology, Mumbai, a Certificate from the Mitsubishi Chemicals, a Certificate from Prof. D.D. Kale, University Department of Chemical Technology, Mumbai and opinion of Deputy Chief Chemists; that the Commissioner (Appeals) has accepted their claim that acrylamide was a synthetic adhesive on the basis of various opinions; that after one and a half years the Central Intelligence unit of Mumbai Customs House acting upon the Intelligence, conducted investigation which revealed that ther .....

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..... raud said to be perpetrated by their consultant has also not been outlined by them. No reason has been brought forward to show they had checked up with the consultant whether the appeal has been filed within the time limit specified in the Act. When the Customs Act specifically provides three months time for filing the Appeal has to be adhered to. If the condonation of delay application is accepted, every applicant in the case of delay can put the blame to his Consultant/Advocate. Learned Departmental Representative has rightly pointed out that the judgment in the case of Candid Enterprises is not applicable to the facts of the present matter. We, therefore, hold that no sufficient reasons had been advanced by the Applicants to justify the .....

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