Appellate forum turns on the date an Additional Collector's order is signed, not the date it is communicated.

For appellate jurisdiction under the Finance Act, 1992 and the Customs Act, 1962, the relevant date of an Additional Collector of Customs' order is the date it is signed or otherwise passed, not the date of communication. Communication is only an administrative step and does not postpone the legal operation of the order. On that basis, orders signed before 14-5-1992 remained within the continuing appeal framework, and appeals against such orders lay to the Tribunal. The interpretation avoids inconsistency with the statutory appeal scheme and prevents anomalous results based on delayed communication.

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Issues: Whether an appeal against an order of an Additional Collector of Customs was maintainable before the Tribunal when the order was signed before 14-5-1992 but communicated after that date.

Analysis: The applicable saving clause in the Finance Act, 1992 continued Chapter XV of the Customs Act, 1962 in respect of decisions or orders passed by an Additional Collector of Customs immediately before the President's assent to the Finance Bill, 1992. The decisive event was the passing of the order, not its subsequent communication. Communication was treated as an administrative act and did not postpone the coming into operation of the order. The Tribunal also held that construing the date of communication as the relevant date would create an anomalous position and would be inconsistent with the statutory scheme, including the appeal structure under the Customs Act, 1962.

Conclusion: The order was to be treated as passed on the date it was signed, and appeals against such orders lay before the Tribunal; the appeals were maintainable.

Final Conclusion: The Tribunal accepted jurisdiction over the appeals on the footing that the relevant date is the date of signing of the order, not the date of communication, and directed the appeals to be posted for hearing.

Ratio Decidendi: For determining appellate forum under the Finance Act, 1992 and the Customs Act, 1962, the relevant date of an Additional Collector's order is the date of signing or passing of the order, while communication is only an administrative step and does not control jurisdiction.

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