Appeals to Appellate Tribunal [Section 129A] :
Orders appellable to Appellate Tribunal: Any person aggrieved by any of the following orders may appeal to the Appellate Tribunal against such order –
(a) a decision or order passed by the Principal Commissioner/Commissioner of Customs as an adjudicating authority;
(b) an order passed by the Commissioner (Appeals) under section 128A;
Orders not appealable: No appeal shall lie to the Appellate Tribunal and the Appellate Tribunal shall not have jurisdiction to decide any appeal in respect of any order referred to in clause (b) if such order relates to, –
(a) any goods imported or exported as baggage;
(b) any goods loaded in a conveyance for importation into India, but which are not unloaded at their place of destination in India, or so much of the quantity of such goods as has not been unloaded at any such destination if goods unloaded at such destination are short of the quantity required to be unloaded at that destination;
(c) payment of drawback as provided in Chapter X, and the rules made thereunder.
In the following cases, the Appellate Tribunal may refuse to admit an appeal in respect of an order referred to in clause (b) or clause (c) or clause (d) where –
(i) the value of the goods confiscated without option having been given to the owner of the goods to pay a fine in lieu of confiscation under section 125; or
(ii) in any disputed case, other than a case where the determination of any question having a relation to the rate of duty of customs or to the value of goods for purposes of assessment is in issue or is one of the points in issue, the dif ference in duty involved or the duty involved; or
(iii) the amount of fine or penalty determined by such order, does not exceed ` 2,00,000 [Sub-section 1].
Appeal by Committee of Principal Commissioner/Commissioners of Customs: The Board may, by order, constitute such Committees as may be necessary for the purposes of this Act. Such Committee shall consist of two Principal Chief Commissioners/Chief Commissioners of Customs or two Principal Commissioners/Commissioners of Customs [Subsection (1B)]. Such Committee of Principal Commissioners/Commissioners of Customs may direct the proper officer to appeal on its behalf to the Appellate Tribunal against such order, if it is of the opinion that an order passed by the Commissioner (Appeals) under section 128 or under section 128A is not legal or proper [Sub-section (2)].
Difference in opinion in the Committee of Principal Commissioners/Commissioners of Customs: Where the Committee of Principal Commissioners/Commissioners of Customs differs in its opinion regarding appeal against the order of the Commissioner (Appeals), it shall state the point or points on which it differs and make a reference to the jurisdictional Principal Chief Commissioner/Chief Commissioner of Customs. The Principal Chief Commissioner/Chief Commissioner shall direct the proper officer to appeal to the Appellate Tribunal against such order if is of the opinion that the order passed by the Commissioner (Appeals) is not legal or proper.
It has also been explained that “jurisdictional Principal Chief Commissioner/Chief Commissioner” means the Principal Chief Commissioner/Chief Commissioner of Customs having jurisdiction over the adjudicating authority in the matter.‘
Time limit for filing appeal: Every appeal under this section shall be filed within three months from the date on which the order sought to be appealed against was communicated to the Principal Commissioner/Commissioner or, as the case may be, the other party preferring the appeal.
Memorandum of Cross objections: On receipt of notice that an appeal has been preferred under this section, the party against whom the appeal has been preferred may, notwithstanding that he may not have appealed against such order or any part thereof, file, within forty-five days of the receipt of the notice, a memorandum of cross-objections verified in such manner as may be specified by rules made in this behalf against any part of the order appealed against and such memorandum shall be disposed of by the Appellate Tribunal as if it were an appeal presented within the time specified in sub-section (3).
The Appellate Tribunal may admit an appeal or permit the filing of a memorandum of cross – objections after the expiry of the relevant period referred to in sub-section (3) or sub-section
(4), if it is satisfied that there was sufficient cause for not presenting it within that period.
Form of Appeal: An appeal to the Appellate Tribunal under section 129A(1) shall be filed in Form CA3. A departmental appeal to the Appellate Tribunal under section 129A(2) shall be filed in Form CA-5. Both the appeals shall be verified in such manner as may be specified by rules made in this behalf.
Fee for filling an appeal/ application: Sub-section (6) of section 129A prescribes the amount of fee for filing an appeal to the Appellate Tribunal.
| Amount of duty, interest demanded and penalty levied | Fee for filing an appeal |
| Less than or equal to ` 5,00,000 | ` 1,000.00 |
| More than ` 5,00,000 but not exceeding ` 50,00,000 | ` 5,000.00 |
| More than ` 50,00,000 | ` 10,000.00 |
However, no such fee shall be payable in the case of an appeal preferred by Principal Commissioner/Commissioner of Customs. Also, no fee shall be payable in case of filing of a memorandum of cross-objections.
Sub-section (7) prescribes a fee of ` 500 for every application made before the Appellate Tribunal. The application can be an appeal for rectification of mistake or for any other purpose; or for restoration of an appeal or an application. However, no such fee shall be payable in the case of an application filed by or on behalf of the Principal Commissioner/Commissioner of Customs.