Exclusion of time for certified copies supported limitation and condonation where appeal rules required filing the copy.

Time spent obtaining certified copies of the impugned orders was excludable in computing limitation under section 131A of the Customs Act, 1962, because the appeal rules required a certified copy to accompany the memorandum of appeal. The appellants acted bona fide in seeking the copies from the adjudicating authority to comply with that requirement, so the period could not be treated as delay attributable to them. Any marginal delay was therefore supported by sufficient cause and stood condoned.

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Issues: Whether the time taken to obtain certified copies of the impugned orders was excludable in computing limitation for the appeals, and whether any delay in filing the appeals should be condoned.

Analysis: Section 131A of the Customs Act, 1962 excludes the time requisite for obtaining a copy of the order while computing limitation. The appeal procedure also required filing of a certified copy along with the memorandum of appeal under Rule 9 of the Customs Excise and Gold (Control) Appellate Tribunal Procedure Rules, 1982. Since the appellants applied for certified copies in order to comply with that requirement, and acted on a bona fide understanding that the certified copies had to be obtained from the adjudicating authority, the period consumed in securing those copies could not be treated as delay attributable to them. The circumstances therefore constituted sufficient cause for any marginal delay.

Conclusion: The time taken to obtain the certified copies was to be excluded, and any delay stood condoned.

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