Order

Delay condoned.

2. Leave granted.

3. The Appellant is aggrieved by the fact that the right of Appeal bestowed on the assessee by the Central Excise Act, 1944 (in short ‘the Act’) has virtually been rendered nugatory since, successively, its Appeal has been declined consideration on merits, having instead held as time-barred.

4. Succinctly stated, the Appellant had sought to take advantage of a Notification granting exemption from payment of Central Excise Duty as well as Additional Duty of Excise for a period of ten years. This moratorium/exemption has been granted by the Central Government with the objective of giving a fillip to the industrialization of the newly created State of Uttarakhand. The dispute is whether the Appellant’s factory/unit is situated on land which is covered by the aforesaid Notification, but we are not immediately concerned with this contentious issue in theses Appeals. It appears that on 28.7.2011, the Assistant Commissioner, Customs and Central Excise Division, Haldwani had concluded the proceedings and hearings in respect of the show cause notice dated 25.3.2011 issued to the Appellant. The Appellant’s contention is that after a passage of eight months