Postal filing under customs law counts only on receipt, so an appeal received after the statutory outer limit was time-barred.

An appeal under Section 128 of the Customs Act was held time-barred because, where an appeal is sent by post, the operative filing date is the date of receipt in the appellate office, not the date of posting. Rule 6 of the 1982 Procedure Rules treated the memorandum as presented only on receipt by the concerned officer. As the appeal reached the office after the statutory outer period of six months from communication of the original order, the Commissioner (Appeals) had no power to condone the delay beyond that limit, and the challenge to the rejection on limitation failed.

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Issues: Whether an appeal under Section 128 of the Customs Act, 1962 is within time when it is sent by post before expiry of limitation but received in the appellate office after the prescribed period.

Analysis: Section 128 prescribes a period of three months for filing an appeal to the Commissioner (Appeals), with a further condonable period of three months on sufficient cause being shown. Rule 6 of the Customs, Excise and Gold (Control) Appellate Tribunal (Procedure) Rules, 1982 provides that a memorandum of appeal sent by post is deemed to have been presented only on the date it is received in the office of the concerned officer. On the admitted facts, the appeal was received after the expiry of six months from communication of the original order. The date of posting could not be treated as the date of filing, and the appellate authority had no power to condone delay beyond the statutory limit.

Conclusion: The appeal was time-barred and the rejection of the appeal as barred by limitation was .

Final Conclusion: The writ petition failed, and the challenge to the appellate rejection on limitation was not accepted.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the statute fixes the date of receipt as the operative date for filing an appeal sent by post, the appeal is filed only when received by the appellate authority, and no condonation is permissible beyond the outer statutory period.

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