2016 (1) TMI 960

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....s against the Final Order No.40680/2015, dated 26.06.2015, on the file of the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal, South Zonal Bench, Chennai. Brief facts:- 2. The appellant was working as a Branch Manager, in a firm called, M/s. International Logistics Freight Forwarders at Bangalore and was carrying on business of freight forwarding from February 2006 to August 2008. 2.1. M/s. Glow Freight Logistics, a registered Customs House Agent (CHA), filed a Shipping Bill, dated 25.10.2006, on behalf of M/s. Rare Crafts Overseas, Bangalore, for the export of goods. The goods were declared as  Indian Artistic Wooden Handicrafts , but on interception by Intelligence, the container was found to contain red sander wood logs,....

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....ssed on merits, but on the technical ground of limitation. The justification for passing such an order without assigning sufficient reason and without considering the materials placed by the appellant is brought under challenge before this Court. 4. It was the case of the appellant that he was not aware of the order passed by the adjudicating authority, as he left the services of his erstwhile employer, M/s.International Logistics Freight Forwarders, Bangalore, and that he came to know about the order when there was a prosecution launched and that was the reason for the delay in filing the appeal. 4.1. It is the grievance of the appellant that the CESTAT dismissed the Application for condonation of delay, without appreciating the subm....

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....ntest the case on merits before the CESTAT. 7. The learned counsel for the second respondent would submit that the delay was willful and therefore, rightly the CESTAT has dismissed the Application to condone the delay. 7.1. This submission cannot be accepted, as there is no material to come to the conclusion that the delay in approaching the CESTAT was willful. The fact remains that the summons from the Criminal Court could not be served on the appellant, as he left the services of the erstwhile employer, and only after issuance of the Non-Bailable Warrant (NBW), the appellant has appeared before the Court. It is unlikely that the appellant should have taken his personal liberty so lightly in not appearing on summons, when he was func....

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.... of the provision in the course of the interpretation of the expression 'sufficient cause'. So also the same approach has to be evidenced in its application to matters at hand with the end in view to do even handed justice on merits in preference to the approach which scuttles a decision on merits." (iv) Standard Treads v. Collector, reported in 1996 (83) ELT 30 (Ker):- "4. It has to be kept in the forefront that ordinarily a litigant does not stand to benefit by lodging an appeal late. He has no interest in wasting time. It has also to be borne in mind that the great possibility of disastrous results creating a situation that a meritorious matter being thrown out at the threshold causing a heavy burden to the caus....