Madras HC Restores Hyundai-Mobis’ Appeal before CESTAT: Condones 145-Day Delay due to Employee’s Chickenpox Leave [Read Order]

The Madras High Court recently condoned a delay of 145 days in filing an appeal by Hyundai’s subsidiary Mobis India Limited (Mobis India) and restored their case before the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT).

The dispute arose from an order-in-original dated 28 September 2024, passed by the PrincipalCommissioner of Customs (Air Cargo), Chennai. Under Section 129A of the CustomsAct, 1962 the company had time until 1 January 2025 to file its appeal before the CESTAT.

However, the physical copy of the order from CESTAT was misplaced after being received by a staff member, who was subsequently afflicted with chicken pox and went on medical leave from 4 October to 20 December 2024.

Due to the employee’s absence, the CESTAT order did not reach senior management for pursuing appellate action in time. The employee rejoined duty in December 2024 but overlooked the matter until April 2025, when Customs authorities initiated recovery proceedings. Following an internal enquiry, the order was traced on 29 April 2025 and the appeal was filed on 15 May 2025, well past the prescribed limitation period.

The Tribunal had earlier refused to condone the delay, noting that no sufficient cause had been made out by Mobis to validate the delay. Before the High Court, however, Mobis India produced supporting documents, including the medical certificate of the concerned employee which confirmed that the employee was suffering from very severe chickenpoxwith pustular lesions, stomatitis and respiratory infection, an official memo issued to her and her written explanation - which were not produced before the Tribunal earlier.

These materials, along with an affidavit from the company’s deputy general manager, were considered for the first time at the writ stage.

Justice Dr. Anita Sumanth and Justice N. Senthilkumar observed that while normally the High Court would not interfere with discretionary orders of the Tribunal, the circumstances in this case proved that the delay was neither deliberate nor mala fide, but arose from circumstances beyond the company’s control.

The Madras High Court noted that sufficient cause had been established and proceeded to set aside the impugned order of the Tribunal dated 9 July 2025, and restored the appeal to the file of the Tribunal with 3 September 2025 fixed the first date of hearing, with no further notice required to be issued to the petitioner.

Hari Radhakrishnan appeared for Mobis India Limited, while B.Sivaraman appeared for the Principal Commissioner of Customs (Air Cargo).

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