Statutory limitation bars late service tax appeals where delay exceeds the outer condonation limit and cannot be cured.

Where the statute prescribes a fixed outer limit for condonation of delay, an appeal filed beyond that period cannot be entertained. The Tribunal noted that the service tax appeal was lodged more than 20 months after acknowledged receipt of the order-in-original, and the plea of later receipt was unsupported by the record. It held that the Commissioner (Appeals) had no power to condone delay beyond the statutory limit, and that the appellant had not approached the forum with clean hands. The appeal was therefore time barred and not maintainable, leaving the tax demand and penalty undisturbed.

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Issues: Whether the appeal before the Commissioner (Appeals) was barred by limitation and liable to be rejected without examination on merits.

Analysis: The appeal against the order-in-original was found to have been filed after a delay of more than 20 months from the date of acknowledged receipt of the order. Under the applicable limitation scheme for service tax appeals, the appellate authority could condone delay only up to the statutorily permitted period, and no power existed to condone delay beyond that period. The Tribunal also found that the plea of later receipt was unsupported in view of the acknowledgement on record, and held that the appellant had not approached the forum with clean hands.

Conclusion: The appeal was rightly held to be time barred and was not maintainable before the Commissioner (Appeals), with no relief available on merits.

Final Conclusion: The dismissal of the appeal is sustained on the ground of inordinate and non-condonable delay, leaving the adjudication on tax demand and penalty undisturbed.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the statute prescribes a fixed outer limit for condonation of delay, the appellate authority cannot entertain an appeal filed beyond that limit, and the dispute must fail at the threshold on limitation.

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