Customs appeal limitation under Section 128 bars condonation beyond the statutory outer limit for delayed filing.

Section 128 of the Customs Act allows an appeal to the Commissioner (Appeals) within sixty days of communication of the order, with only a further thirty days available on sufficient cause. Delay beyond that outer limit cannot be condoned, and Section 5 of the Limitation Act does not apply to this statutory scheme. As the appeal was filed after ninety-two days, it fell outside the condonable period and was rightly rejected as time-barred.

---

---

Issues: Whether the appeal before the Commissioner (Appeals) was barred by limitation under Section 128 of the Customs Act, 1962 and whether delay beyond the further period of thirty days could be condoned.

Analysis: Section 128(1) permits an appeal to be filed within sixty days from communication of the order and the proviso empowers the Commissioner (Appeals) to extend the period by a further thirty days on sufficient cause being shown. The appeal was filed after 92 days, beyond the outer limit available for condonation. The provision does not confer any power to condone delay beyond the additional thirty days, and the principle of Section 5 of the Limitation Act, 1963 is excluded in this statutory scheme. The same limitation rule was applied by reference to the pari materia provision considered by the Supreme Court.

Conclusion: The appeal was correctly rejected as time-barred, and the order of dismissal was justified.

---