Exclusion of receipt date in limitation computation under excise appeal law kept the departmental appeal within time.

In computing limitation for an appeal under Section 35 of the Central Excises and Salt Act, 1944, the date on which the impugned order was received by the assessee had to be excluded by applying the exclusion principle reflected in Section 12 of the Limitation Act. On that basis, the departmental appeal filed on 22-11-1978 was within the prescribed three-month period, and the appellate authority's contrary view that it was time-barred was unsustainable. The limitation objection was rejected, the order dismissing the appeal as barred by time was set aside, and the matter was remanded for consideration on merits.

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Issues: Whether, for the purpose of computing limitation under Section 35 of the Central Excises and Salt Act, 1944, the date on which the impugned order was received by the assessee was to be excluded, and whether the departmental appeal was therefore within time.

Analysis: Section 35 of the Central Excises and Salt Act, 1944 required an appeal to be filed within three months from the date of the decision or order appealed against. Applying the principle of exclusion of the starting date embodied in Section 12 of the Limitation Act, the date of receipt of the order was held to be excluded from the computation. On that basis, the appeal presented on 22-11-1978 fell within the prescribed period. The contrary finding of the appellate authority that the appeal was barred by limitation was therefore unsustainable.

Conclusion: The limitation objection was rejected in favour of the assessee, and the appeal was held to be in time.

Final Conclusion: The impugned order dismissing the appeal as time-barred was set aside, and the matter was sent back for consideration on merits.

Ratio Decidendi: In computing the period of limitation for an appeal under Section 35 of the Central Excises and Salt Act, 1944, the date of receipt of the order appealed against must be excluded by applying the exclusion principle reflected in Section 12 of the Limitation Act.

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