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Judgment
Anjaneyulu J.
This is a case where the Collector of Customs should never have sought reference to the High Court, and even if the Collector had sought the reference, the Tribunal should not have granted the reference. Two questions are referred for consideration of this Court and they are :
(1) Whether in the facts and circumstances of the case, the certificate of posting produced by the Respondent could be deemed to be sufficient evidence of despatch of the appeals to the Collector (Appeals) on 16.10.1981;
(2) Whether such appeal could be deemed to have reached the Collector (Appeals) in the normal course of postal transit before the expiry of time limit of six months, i.e. before 25.10.1981.
There is dispute about the receipt of appeal papers sent by the assessee in this case. After looking into the evidence, the Tribunal accepted the assessee''s contention that the appeals were despatched on 16.10.1981 under a certificate of posting and in the normal course they should have been received in the office of the appellate authority well in time. If the Tribunal believed the evidence produce by the assessee, that is an end of the matter and no question of law arises. Assuming that the two questions referred to us are questions of law, they must be answered in the affirmative, in favour of the assessee and against the Revenue. No costs.