In a recent ruling,the Mumbai bench of the Customs Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal ( CESTAT ) held the appeal as meritless and dismissed the same filed beyond limitation period u/s 85(3) of Central Excise Act, 1944.
The appellant, M/s Base Corporation Ltd had approached the Customs Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal ( CESTAT ) against the t order of original authority fastening duty liability of Rs. 11,26,541 under section 11A of Central Excise Act, 1944 and interest under section 11AA of Central Excise Act, 1944 and imposition of penalties.
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The appellant was not represented, and it had been some time since the appellant had operated out of the registered place of business, according to information obtained by the jurisdictional Central Excise Commissionerate. Thus with the assistance of the Authorized Representative, the bench took the long-pending appeal for disposal.
The counsel on behalf of the appellant submitted that hat a similar matter was resolved by the Tribunal in Tnet Messaging Services P Ltd v. Commissioner of Customs, CGST & Central Excise, Mumbai East, where the appeal against the order of the Commissioner of CGST & Central Excise (Appeals), Mumbai, was disposed of.
The CESTAT bench observed taht it is a well settled principle that the Tribunal and the first appellate authority have no jurisdiction or the power condone the delay in filing the appeal beyond period of limitation prescribed under Section85(3) of the Central Excise Act, 1944 and there has been a significant delay in filing the appeal beyond the statutory period.
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The CESTAT bench further observed that Therefore the order of the Commissioner (Appeals) dated 26.11.2019 rejecting the appeal on the ground that the appeal has been filed belatedly beyond the period stipulated under Section 85 of the Act does not warrant any interference and the same is accordingly dismissed.
The CESTAT bench comprising of Ajay Sharma and C J Mathew, held that the appeal is meritless and that the tribunal cannot condone a delay which could not be condoned by the first appellate authority.
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