Limitation for service tax appeals runs from actual receipt of the order, and delay may be condoned within the statutory outer limit.

Delay in filing a service tax appeal was held to depend on the date of actual receipt of the adjudication order, with limitation running from receipt and condonation available within the statutory further period on sufficient cause. The record did not disprove the assessee's sworn assertion that the order was received later, so receipt could not be presumed merely from despatch. Even on the despatch date, the appeal was within the outer statutory limit. The refusal to condone delay was therefore set aside and the appeal restored for fresh consideration on merits.

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Issues: Whether the delay in filing the service tax appeal ought to have been condoned, having regard to the statutory limitation running from the date of receipt of the adjudication order and the outer limit prescribed for filing the appeal.

Analysis: Section 85 of the Finance Act provides that the period of limitation commences from the date of receipt of the decision or order and that the appellate authority may condone delay within the further period permitted by the statute on sufficient cause being shown. The record did not establish the date on which the order was actually received by the assessee, while the assessee asserted on oath that it received the order only later. In the absence of material disproving that assertion, the authority could not assume receipt merely from despatch. Even on the basis of the despatch date, the appeal was within the outer statutory limit.

Conclusion: The delay should have been condoned and the appeal ought to have been heard on merits. The orders refusing condonation were set aside and the appeal was restored for fresh consideration.

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