Commissioner's personal filing duty under Customs law was not met when an Assistant Commissioner signed and filed the appeal.

Section 129D(1) of the Customs Act requires the Commissioner, acting on the Board's direction, to apply to the Appellate Tribunal; that authority is personal and must be exercised in the manner the statute prescribes. Where the appeal papers were signed and presented by an Assistant Commissioner, with no shown delegation to substitute for the Commissioner, the statutory mandate was not complied with. The appeal was therefore treated as improperly instituted and not maintainable.

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Issues: Whether an appeal directed by the Board under Section 129D(1) of the Customs Act, 1962 was validly filed when the application was signed and presented by an Assistant Commissioner instead of the Commissioner.

Analysis: The statutory power under Section 129D(1) required the Commissioner to apply to the Appellate Tribunal on the Board's direction. The filing documents were not personally signed by the Commissioner, and the act of filing was done by an Assistant Commissioner. As the authority conferred by the provision was personal to the Commissioner and was not shown to have been delegated, the appeal was not instituted in accordance with the statutory mandate.

Conclusion: The appeal was held to be improperly filed and not maintainable.

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