Appeal filing venue under Public Notice No. 2/2001 was limited to cases first filed at Mumbai and then sought at Delhi.

Public Notice No. 2/2001 was interpreted as covering only cases in which an appeal had first been filed before the Western Zonal Bench at Mumbai and a later request was made for hearing at Delhi for expeditious disposal. An appeal filed initially at New Delhi did not fall within that procedure, so it could not be retained there. The matter was therefore required to be filed before the Mumbai Bench, while the New Delhi filing date was directed to be treated as the filing date for record purposes.

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Issues: Whether the appeal, filed at New Delhi, could be retained there under Public Notice No. 2/2001 instead of being filed before the Western Zonal Bench at Mumbai.

Analysis: The Public Notice was read as applying to cases where an appeal had first been filed before the Western Zonal Bench at Mumbai and a subsequent request was made for hearing at Delhi for expeditious disposal. The appeal before the Tribunal had not been filed in that manner, and therefore did not fall within the notice.

Outcome: The request for retention at New Delhi was declined and the appeal was required to be filed at Mumbai, while the date of filing at New Delhi was directed to be treated as the filing date.

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