Appellate Authority Cannot Condone Delay Beyond 30 Days u/s 35 of Central Excise Act: Bombay HC Upholds Rejection of Appeal [Read Order]

In a recent ruling, the Bombay High Court held that the appellate authority has no power to condone delay beyond the additional 30-day period prescribed under Section 35 of the Central Excise Act and upheld the rejection of an appeal filed beyond such statutory limit.

Angoora International, the petitioner, filed a writ petition challenging the orders passed by the appellate and revisional authorities which rejected its appeal on the ground of limitation. The dispute arose from an order dated 5 August 2013 passed by the Deputy Commissioner of Central Excise rejecting the petitioner’s claim for interest on delayed payment of rebate.

The petitioner had filed an appeal before the Commissioner (Appeals) on 14 February 2014. Under Section 35 of the Central Excise Act, an appeal is required to be filed within 60 days from the date of communication of the order with a further condonable period of 30 days. In the present case, the appeal was filed beyond both the prescribed period and the extended condonable period.

The petitioner’s counsel argued that the delay occurred as the petitioner was pursuing the matter with departmental authorities and seeking clarification before filing the appeal. They also argued that the claim for interest was incidental to the rebate claim and constituted a continuing cause of action, and hence the delay ought to have been condoned.

The department’s counsel argued that the appeal was clearly barred by limitation as it was filed beyond the maximum period allowed under Section 35. They argued that the appellate authority, being a creature of statute, has no power to condone delay beyond the additional 30-day period provided in the statute.

The Division Bench of Justices G. S. Kulkarni and Aarti Sathe observed that the statutory provision under Section 35 clearly restricts the power of the appellate authority to condone delay only up to 30 days beyond the initial 60-day period. The court explained that once this statutory limit is crossed, the authority has no jurisdiction to entertain the appeal.

On the contention that the claim involved a continuing cause of action, the court did not express any opinion but granted liberty to the petitioner to pursue any other remedy available in law before the appropriate authority.

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