2011 (2) TMI 1166

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....olation of the provisions of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 ('FEMA' for short). On filing appeal, the Appellate Tribunal for Foreign Exchange by its order dated 2-8-2007 directed the appellants to make a pre-deposit of 50% of the amount of the penalty within a period of 30 days from the date of the receipt of the said order. 3. Challenging the aforesaid order, the appellants filed Writ Petitions in the Delhi High Court on 7-11-2007. The said Writ Petitions were initially admitted and ultimately dismissed on 26-7-2010 in the light of the judgment of the Apex Court in the case of Raj Kumar Shivhare v. Assistant Director of Enforcement and Anr. reported in (2010) 4 Supreme Court Cases 772 = 2010 (253) E.L.T. 3 (S.C.). However,....

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.... High Court may, if it is satisfied that the appellant was prevented by sufficient cause from filing the appeal within the said period, allow it to be filed within a further period not exceeding sixty days. Explanation - In this section "High Court" means - (a)     the High Court within the jurisdiction of which the aggrieved party ordinarily resides or carries on business or personally works for gain; and (b)     where the Central Government is the aggrieved party, the High Court within the jurisdiction of which the respondent, or in a case where there are more than one respondent, any of the respondents, ordinarily resides or carries on business or personally works for gain. 6. Admittedly, ....

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....se of Raj Kumar Shivhare (supra), the Apex Court in exercise of its power under Article 136 of the Constitution gave liberty to file 'an appeal within a period of thirty days from today'. Whether the Delhi High Court could exercise such power exercised by the Apex Court under Article 136 of the Constitution, is a debatable question. In any event, the expression 'within thirty days from today' means within thirty days of passing the order. Delhi High Court passed the order on 26-7-2010 and, therefore, the appeals ought to have been filed within thirty days from 26-7-2010. Since the appeals are filed beyond the period permitted by the Delhi High Court, this Court cannot condone the delay. 9. The argument that the expression 'within thir....