Statutory appeal limitation bars condonation beyond the outer limit, and writ jurisdiction cannot override the express restriction.

Section 68-O of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 permits an appeal within forty-five days and allows condonation only up to an outer limit of sixty days on sufficient cause being shown. Once that statutory limit expires, the Appellate Tribunal lacks jurisdiction to entertain the appeal. The document states that the right of appeal is purely statutory and may be limited by the legislature, and that Article 226 cannot be used to create an appeal right or defeat an express bar on condonation. The same principle is noted in analogous limitation provisions under other statutes.

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Issues: Whether an appeal under Section 68-O of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 could be entertained after sixty days from service of the order, and whether the delay beyond that period could be condoned in exercise of powers under Article 226 of the Constitution of India.

Analysis: Section 68-O permits an appeal within forty-five days and authorises the Appellate Tribunal to entertain it beyond that period only up to sixty days if sufficient cause is shown. The statutory language expressly curtails the Tribunal's jurisdiction beyond sixty days. The right of appeal is not inherent but is a creature of statute, and the legislature may validly limit or condition that right. The same principle was applied in decisions construing similarly worded limitation provisions under Section 35 of the Central Excise Act, 1944, Section 125 of the Electricity Act, 2003, Section 12(4) of the Smugglers and Foreign Exchange Manipulators (Forfeiture of Property) Act, 1976, and Section 34(3) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996. Article 226 cannot be used to confer a right of appeal or to bypass an express statutory prohibition on condonation.

Conclusion: The Appellate Tribunal had no power to entertain the belated appeal beyond sixty days, and the High Court would not grant relief to overcome the statutory bar. The petition was therefore without merit.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a statute expressly limits the period for filing an appeal and excludes condonation beyond a specified outer limit, the appellate forum has no jurisdiction to entertain a delayed appeal beyond that limit, and writ jurisdiction cannot be invoked to defeat the statutory bar.

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