Limitation as a threshold issue required remand before merits of the customs classification dispute could be examined.

Limitation must be determined as a threshold issue before an appellate authority can examine the merits of a departmental appeal, because a time-barred appeal cannot be entertained on substance. The Revenue's challenge to the classification of imported goods was therefore not examined on merits, as the first appellate authority had not first decided the respondent's preliminary objection that the review and appeal were filed beyond the statutory period. The matter was remanded for a fresh decision on limitation alone, after hearing both sides, with no finding recorded on classification.

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Issues: Whether the appeal before the first appellate authority was barred by limitation and, if so, whether the matter could be decided on merits without first determining that threshold issue.

Analysis: The appeal was filed by the Revenue against the order of the adjudicating authority upholding the declared classification of the imported goods. The respondent specifically raised limitation as a preliminary objection, contending that the review and filing of the departmental appeal were beyond the statutory period prescribed for such action. The threshold issue of limitation was treated as one that had to be decided before any examination of classification on merits, because an appellate authority cannot proceed to adjudicate the substantive dispute if the appeal itself is time-barred. Since the limitation question had not been examined by the first appellate authority, the matter required reconsideration on that limited issue alone.

Conclusion: The matter was remanded to the first appellate authority to decide only the issue of limitation afresh, after giving both sides an opportunity of hearing; no finding was recorded on the merits of classification.

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