Tribunal dismisses appeal due to late filing, citing lack of awareness of order as insufficient justification.

The Tribunal declined to condone a delay of over 720 days in filing an appeal, citing the applicant's claim of being unaware of the order as insufficient justification. Despite arguments of lack of intentionality and natural justice principles, the Tribunal found that the company's employee had received the order but failed to inform management promptly. Consequently, the application for condonation was dismissed, leading to the dismissal of the appeal.

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Issues: Application for condonation of delay in filing appeal.

Analysis:
1. The applicant filed an application seeking condonation of a delay of over 720 days in filing the appeal due to being unaware of the Order-in-Appeal issued by the Commissioner of Customs. The applicant only became aware when a detention notice was issued proposing recovery of an amount. The applicant claimed that the delay was due to the concerned employee not informing the management about the order.
2. The learned counsel for the applicant argued that the delay was not intentional and requested condonation, emphasizing that the impugned order lacked natural justice principles. The counsel cited relevant case laws to support the argument.
3. The opposing party, the learned AR, contended that the delay was unjustified and opposed the application, citing several case laws to strengthen the argument.
4. After hearing both parties and examining the records, the Tribunal found that the impugned order was received by the company's employee, but no action was taken to file the appeal within the stipulated time frame. The reason provided by the applicant for the delay, attributing it to the employee not informing the management, was deemed insufficient to justify the inordinate delay. Consequently, the Tribunal declined to condone the delay of more than 720 days and dismissed the application, leading to the dismissal of the appeal as well.

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