Sanvijay Rolling and Engineering Ltd Vs Commissioner of CGST and Central Excise Nagpur 1 (Supreme Court of India)
The dispute arose from the dismissal by the Bombay High Court of applications filed by the assessee seeking condonation of delay in filing appeals under Section 35-G(2)(a) of the Central Excise Act, 1944, while simultaneously pursuing rectification applications under Section 35-C(2) before the Appellate Tribunal. The matter was subsequently carried to the Supreme Court of India, which issued notice on the applications seeking condonation of delay as well as on the Special Leave Petitions and stayed the operation of the impugned High Court order.
Read HC Order: Simultaneous appeal u/s. 35-G(2)(a) and application u/s. 35-C(2) not tenable: compost import for consuming judicial time
Before the Bombay High Court, the central issue was whether the assessee had shown “sufficient cause” to condone a delay of 184 days in filing appeals under Section 35-G(2)(a). The Appellate Tribunal had passed its order on 22.02.2022, which the assessee claimed to have received on 03.03.2022. The statutory period of 180 days expired on 30.08.2022, whereas the appeal was filed on or about 27.02.2023.
In the intervening period, the assessee had filed an application for rectification of mistake under Section 35-C(2) of the Act on 07.05.2022, which remained pending at the time the appeal was filed. The assessee argued that if the rectification application were allowed, the grievance would not survive, and therefore the appeal filed before disposal of the rectification application should be treated as within limitation by reckoning the limitation period from the date of the rectification order. The assessee further contended that time spent in pursuing rectification proceedings should be excluded under Section 14 of the Limitation Act, 1963, or that a liberal approach should be adopted in condoning delay.
