Appeals to the Appellate Tribunal
Section 129A of the Customs Act, 1962 deals with appeals to the 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 of Customs or Commissioner of Customs] as an adjudicating authority; The Act came into force on 01 Feb 1963.
(1) 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 1[Principal Commissioner of Customs or Commissioner of Customs] as an adjudicating authority;
(b) an order passed by the 2[Commissioner (Appeals)] under section 128A;
(c) an order passed by the Board or the Appellate 3[Commissioner of Customs] under Section 128, as it stood immediately before the appointed day;
(d) an order passed by the Board or the 1[Principal Commissioner of Customs or Commissioner of Customs], either before or after the appointed day, under section 130, as it stood immediately before that day:
4[Provided that no appeal shall lie to the Appellate Tribunal and the Appellate Tribunal shall not have 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:
Provided further that] the Appellate Tribunal may, in its discretion, 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 difference in duty involved or the duty involved; or
(iii) the amount of fine or penalty determined by such order,
does not exceed 5[two lakh rupees].
6[(1A) Every appeal against any order of the nature referred to in the first proviso to sub-section (1), which is pending immediately before the commencement of section 40 of the Finance Act, 1984 (21 of 1984), before the Appellate Tribunal and any matter arising out of or connected with such appeal and which is so pending shall stand transferred on such commencement to the Central Government and the Central Government shall deal with such appeal or matter under section 129DD as if such appeal or matter were an application or a matter arising out of an application made to it under that section.]
7[(1B) (i) The Board may, 8[by order], constitute such Committees as may be necessary for the purposes of this Act.
(ii) Every Committee constituted under clause (i) shall consist of two Chief Commissioners of Customs or two Commissioners of Customs, as the case may be.]
(2) 9[The Committee of Commissioners of Customs may, if it is] of opinion that an order passed by the Appellate 10[Principal Commissioner of Customs or Commissioner of Customs] under section 128, as it stood immediately before the appointed day, or by the 11[Commissioner (Appeals)] under section 128A, is not legal or proper, direct the proper officer to appeal 12[on its behalf] to the Appellate Tribunal against such order:
13[Provided that where the Committee of 10[Principal Commissioners of Customs or Commissioners of Customs] differs in its opinion regarding the 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 14[Principal Chief Commissioner of Customs or Chief Commissioner of Customs] who shall, after considering the facts of the order, if is of the opinion that the order passed by the Commissioner (Appeals) is not legal or proper, direct the proper officer to appeal to the Appellate Tribunal against such order.
Explanation@-i@.--For the purposes of this sub-section, "jurisdictional Chief Commissioner" means the 14[Principal Chief Commissioner of Customs or Chief Commissioner of Customs] having jurisdiction over the adjudicating authority in the matter.]
(3) Every appeal under this section shall be filed within three months from the date on which the order sought to be appealed against is communicated to the 10[Principal Commissioner of Customs or Commissioner of Customs], or as the case may be, the other party preferring the appeal.
(4) 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 crossobjections 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).
(5) The Appellate Tribunal may admit an appeal or permit the filing of a memorandum of crossobjections 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.
15[(6) An appeal to the Appellate Tribunal shall be in such form and shall be verified in such manner as may be specified by rules made in this behalf and shall, irrespective of the date of demand of duty and interest or of levy of penalty in relation to which the appeal is made, be accompanied by a fee of,--
(a) where the amount of duty and interest demanded and penalty levied by any officer of customs in the case to which the appeal relates is five lakh rupees or less, one thousand rupees;
(b) where the amount of duty and interest demanded and penalty levied by any officer of customs in the case to which the appeal relates is more than five lakh rupees but not exceeding fifty lakh rupees, five thousand rupees;
(c) where the amount of duty and interest demanded and penalty levied by any officer of customs in the case to which the appeal relates is more than fifty lakh rupees, ten thousand rupees:
Provided that no such fee shall be payable in the case of an appeal referred to in sub-section (2) or a memorandum of cross-objections referred to in sub-section (4).
(7) Every application made before the Appellate Tribunal,--
(a) in an appeal 16*** for rectification of mistake or for any other purpose; or
(b) for restoration of an appeal or an application,
shall be accompanied by a fee of five hundred rupees:
Provided that no such fee shall be payable in the case of an application filed by or on behalf of the 17[Principal Commissioner of Customs or Commissioner of Customs] under this sub-section.]
Section 129A, The Customs Act, 1962 (Act 52 of 1962).
Cross-references
Extracted from the operative text of the enactments themselves. Every destination below exists in our corpus.
This section refers to
Referred to by 4
- s. 129D Powers of Committee of Principal Chief Commissioner of Customs or Chief Commissioner of Customs or Principal Commissioner of Customs or Commissioner of Customs to pass certain orders
- s. 129DD Revision by Central Government
- s. 129E Deposit of certain percentage of duty demanded or penalty imposed before filing appeal
- s. 154B Publication of information respecting persons in certain cases
Related judgements & precedents
These are some judgments that construed this section, and hold precedence value. They hold authority on how to read, interpret and use this section.
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Thakker Shipping P. LTD vs Commr. of Customs(general)
Court's Decision & Legal Precedent
The Appellate Tribunal possesses the competence to invoke Section 129A(5) of the Customs Act, 1962 to condone delays in making applications under Section 129D(4) of the Act, provided the Tribunal is satisfied that there existed sufficient cause for non-presentation of the application within the prescribed period. This competence arises from the explicit language of Section 129D(4) which provides that applications made by the Commissioner shall be heard as if they were appeals against adjudicating authority orders and that the provisions of the Act regarding appeals, so far as they may be applicable, shall apply to such applications. Consequently, Section 129A(5) stands incorporated into Section 129D(4) by way of legal fiction, and the Tribunal must give effect to this incorporation.
On this section: Power of Appellate Tribunal regarding appeals; central provision determining that Tribunal can condone delays in appeals filed after prescribed period if sufficient cause exists; the ratio decidendi hinges on incorporation of this section into Section 129D(4)
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Chandra Sekhar Jha vs Union of India
Court's Decision & Legal Precedent
When A Statutory Provision Is Substituted By A New Provision, The Old Provision Is Completely Repealed And Replaced. An Appellant Cannot Selectively Benefit From The Favorable Aspects Of The Old Regime (Discretionary Waiver Of Pre-Deposit) While Being Subject To The New Regime's Requirements (Mandatory 7.5% Deposit). The Applicability Of The New Section 129E Is Determined By The Date Of Filing The Appeal And The Date Of The Order Being Appealed Against, Not By The Date Of The Underlying Incident. The Legislative Intent Behind The Amendment Was To Reduce The Pre-Deposit Burden While Removing Discretionary Waiver Power, And This Intent Must Be Respected.
On this section: Referenced In The New Section 129E Regarding Different Deposit Percentages (7.5% Or 10%) Depending On The Type Of Decision Or Order Being Appealed
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Commr. of Customs vs K. M. Ganatra & CO
Court's Decision & Legal Precedent
When a Customs House Agent has committed serious violations involving subletting of licence to unauthorized persons for fraudulent export documentation causing financial loss to revenue, and such misconduct reflects a chain of acts rather than an isolated incident, the Tribunal's discretion to modify the Commissioner's order of permanent revocation to a temporary period is inappropriate and an abuse of discretion. The CHA occupies a position of critical trust in customs procedures, and strict compliance with licensing regulations must be maintained. Permanent revocation is the appropriate punishment for such serious misconduct.
On this section: Jurisdiction of Appellate Tribunal to hear appeals against orders of Commissioner of Customs
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Bhavya Apparels Pvt. Ltd. vs U. O. I.
Court's Decision & Legal Precedent
Section 129E of the Customs Act, which mandates pre-deposit of duty and interest in appeals, applies only when goods are not under the control of the customs authorities. Where goods are in the custody of the Revenue, the Appellate Tribunal must consider this limitation on its jurisdiction and examine whether the condition of pre-deposit would cause undue hardship to the appellant before imposing such deposit. The exercise of discretion under the proviso to Section 129E must be done with due application of mind to statutory conditions and relevant factual circumstances. Automatic dismissal for non-compliance with pre-deposit orders is not mandated where the order itself was passed without proper consideration of the jurisdictional ingredients and hardship provisions of the statute.
On this section: Constitution of Appellate Tribunal and procedures; cited for jurisdiction and appeal procedures
The holding above is the ratio decidendi as extracted from the judgment by eCourts India, reproduced unaltered — it is a rendering of the court's reasoning, not a substitute for its words. Read the order itself before relying on it.
Judgments citing this section
These may be obiter dicta or a precedent, for you to study. These are the judgments where this section is quoted.
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… Regulation 19 of CBLR, 2018 provides that the Custom Broker, aggrieved by any such order passed by the Principal Commissioner of Customs or Commissioner of Customs, as the case may be, under Regulation 16 or 17 may prefer an appeal under Section 129A of the Customs Act,1962 to the Customs Central Excise & Service Tax Appellate Tribunal. Admittedly, in this case, instead of filing an appeal, petitioner has preferred to file writ petition before this court. Thus, the foremost question for consideration is whether the writ petition is maintainable, as an …
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… There is yet another aspect of the matter. We notice that the respondents herein had approached the Appellate Tribunal against an order of the Commissioner of Customs (Appeals) that found against them on the issue of entitlement to drawback amounts. Section 129A of the Customs Act deals with Appeals to the Appellate Tribunal. The relevant portion of the said Section reads as under: "129A. Appeals to the Appellate Tribunal (1) Any person aggrieved by any of the following orders may appeal to the Appellate Tribunal against such order— - (a) a decision or …
Made under this section, and citing it
1 instrument states that it was made under this provision — the power to make it comes from here, so a change to any of them changes what this section requires in practice. Newest first.
Another 6 instruments name this provision in its title or its text without being made under it.
- Notification No.38/2018-Cus(NT), dated 11.5.2018Notification 2018
- Handling of Cargo in Customs Areas Regulations, 2009Regulation 2009
- Customs House Agents Licensing Regulations, 2004.Regulation 2004
- Notification No.21/2004-Cus(NT), dated 23.02.2004Notification 2004
- Customs House Agents Licensing Regulations,1984Regulation 1984
- Customs (Appeals) Rules, 1982Rule 1962
Questions about Section 129A
What have the courts held on Section 129A of the Customs Act?
Thakker Shipping P. LTD vs Commr. of Customs(general) (30 Oct 2012) is the leading judgment on this section among those set out below: Power of Appellate Tribunal regarding appeals; central provision determining that Tribunal can condone delays in appeals filed after prescribed period if sufficient cause exists; the ratio decidendi hinges on incorporation of this section into Section 129D(4). Another 3 judgments on this section are set out below, all of them from the Supreme Court. They run from 2007 to 2022.
How do I find court cases under Section 129A of the Customs Act?
In judgments and charge sheets this section is written several ways, and each form finds a different set of orders. These search the full text of every order eCourtsIndia holds, best matches first: Customs Act 1962 129A, section 129A Customs Act 1962, section 129A of the Customs Act. Each opens the full list of orders on eCourtsIndia, where it can be narrowed by court, year and outcome. 4 reported judgments on this section are set out on this page, beginning with Thakker Shipping P. LTD vs Commr. of Customs(general) (30 Oct 2012).
What should I read with Section 129A of the Customs Act, and has it changed?
Its own text turns on section 125 (Option to pay fine in lieu of confiscation), section 128 (Appeals to Commissioner (Appeals)), section 128A (Procedure in appeal), section 129DD (Revision by Central Government), and on 1 further provision, so none of them can safely be read on its own. 4 other provisions in this corpus refer back to it. The rules and notifications made under it are where it actually bites, and there is one: most recently Notification No.44/2006-Cus(NT), dated 07.04.2006 (2006).
When did Section 129A of the Customs Act come into force?
Section 129A of the Customs Act, cited as Customs Act 1962 129A, came into force on 01 Feb 1963, having been enacted on 13 Dec 1962. It is in force as at the date shown on this page.
Other sections of this Act
- 28. Recovery of duties not levied or not paid or short-levied or short-paid or erroneously refunded2145 words
- 2. Definitions1638 words
- 27. Claim for refund of duty1060 words
- 127C. Procedure on receipt of an application under section 127B1056 words
- 138C. Admissibility of micro films, facsimile copies of documents and computer print outs as documents and as evidence872 words
- 129D. Powers of Committee of Principal Chief Commissioner of Customs or Chief Commissioner of Customs or Principal Commissioner of Customs or Commissioner of Customs to pass certain orders861 words
Source and method. Compiled from the enactments of Parliament and of the State legislatures as published on India Code, and republished together with commentary and other original matter under section 52(1)(q)(ii) of the Copyright Act, 1957. Structured, cross-referenced and maintained by eCourtsIndia. Text as in force on 14 Oct 2026. This page is not a substitute for legal advice.