Delay condonation and FEMA limitation failed where no bona fide explanation justified a five-year delay in appeal filing.

An appeal filed more than five years after the adjudication order was held barred by limitation, as the governing scheme allowed filing within forty-five days from receipt of the order and further extension only on sufficient cause being shown. The Tribunal found the delay explanation neither satisfactory nor bona fide and treated the appellant as negligent, so condonation was refused and the appeal was not maintainable. It also held that the proceedings fell under the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999, because the show-cause notice and adjudication were initiated after the relevant transitional period had expired.

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Issues: Whether the appellant had shown sufficient cause to justify condonation of the inordinate delay in filing the appeal, and whether the appeal was maintainable in view of the limitation regime under the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999.

Analysis: The appeal was filed more than five years after the adjudication order. The governing provision required an appeal to be filed within forty-five days from receipt of the order, with a further power to entertain it only if sufficient cause for the delay was shown. The Tribunal also held that the proceedings were governed by the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999, because the show-cause notice and adjudication were initiated after the repeal framework had operated beyond the relevant transitional period. On the material placed, the explanation for the delay was found to be neither satisfactory nor bona fide, and the appellant was held to have been negligent in pursuing the appeal. The principles governing condonation of delay required a credible explanation, which was absent here.

Conclusion: The delay was not liable to be condoned and the appeal was not maintainable on that basis.

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