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2014 (4) TMI 261 - HC - Central ExciseRestoration of appeal - Appeal dismissed more than 16 years ago for non appearance - Assessee contends that no notice was dispatched to them - Lack of knowledge of dismissal - Held that:- after such a long lapse of time, the issues cannot be reopened. Firstly, the dispatch register of the relevant time shows that communications were dispatched to the petitioners. Secondly, the Tribunal in its order dated 27.10.97 records that though served nobody appeared. Sixteen long years passed after this order was passed before petitioners applied to the Tribunal for recalling the order. Under normal circumstances, if the petitioners were not served with the notice of hearing, some delay in enquiring the progress in appeal and thereafter approaching the forum for recalling the order can well be understood - petitioners did not enquire about their own appeal before the Tribunal for more than 16 years. In the meantime, the entire record is lost. Documents, orders, notings, receipt, none of them would be available. At this stage, therefore to put heavy burden on the Registry of the Tribunal to establish that not only the notice of hearing was dispatched, the same was served would be too onerous a burden to be discharged. Petitioners cannot cast away their responsibility of pursuing their own appeal and at least inquiring about it from the Tribunal or their legal representative as to the progress of the matter. Right after 1988 when the pre-deposit order was passed, the petitioner never inquired about the progress in the appeal. More than 25 years thus passed before the petitioners started making inquiries. We would, therefore, go by the official record that the intimation had been dispatched to the petitioners and the Tribunal’s recording that though served no one had appeared before the Tribunal on the date of hearing - Decided against assessee.
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