2004 (8) TMI 442 - AT - Central Excise

Summary

Issues: Delay in filing appeal due to sickness of proprietor.

In this judgment by the Appellate Tribunal CESTAT, Mumbai, the delay of 80 days in filing the appeal was attributed to the sickness of the proprietor, who was certified to be suffering from 'infective hepatitis with general debility.' The proprietor, Manoj Agarwal, was advised rest by Dr. B.S. Agrawal, M.D. The Tribunal considered a previous case where a delay of 84 days was not condoned due to discrepancies in the medical certificate and the availability of an authorized signatory to file the appeal within the statutory period. The Tribunal found that the medical certificate in the present case did not inspire confidence and concluded that the delay was not satisfactorily explained, leading to the dismissal of the condonation application, stay application, and appeal as time-barred.

The Tribunal noted that the appellant seemed to have obtained a sickness certificate conveniently to justify the delay. The Tribunal agreed with the submission that there was nothing preventing the appellant from filing the appeal within the specified time. It was observed that the explanation provided and the certificate produced were deemed doctored, indicating that the delay in filing the appeal was not genuine. Consequently, the Tribunal dismissed the stay application and appeal as barred by limitation.