Per J.H. Joglekar : The Commissioner of Central Excise, Ahmedabad vide his order in original No. 21/COMMR/2000 confirmed duty of Rs. 17,06,211/- as payable by M/s. Kumar Cotton Mills Pvt. Ltd. He also imposed a penalty of equal amount on them. He also imposed a penalty of Rs. 1.7 lakhs on Shri P.D. Patel, Director of the Mills. Against this order two appeals were filed and also applications for waiver of pre-deposit. Tribunal vide order No. C-I/1396-97/WZB/2001 dated 23/03/2001 directed the manufacturer mills to deposit 6 lakhs and Shri Patel was directed to deposit Rs. 20,000/-. Compliance was reported and noted by the Tribunal on 09/08/2001.

2. On 03/07/2002 the appellant Mills received a communication from the jurisdictional Superintendent of Central Excise. The operative portion of this communication reads as under :

"In this connection, it is brought to your notice that after the introduction of sub-section 2-A in Section 35-C of CEA, 1944 in the recent Budget, any stay including a partial stay if granted by the Hon'ble CEGAT in any appeal, the same should be disposed of within a period of 180 days from the date of such order if such appeal is not disposed of within the spe