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A12 EXCISE LAW TIMES [ Vol. 372

Provided that no such adjournment shall be granted more than three
times to a party during hearing of the appeal.
(2) The Appellate Tribunal may, at any time within six months from
the date of the order, with a view to rectifying any mistake apparent from the
record, amend any order passed by it under sub-section (1) and shall make such
amendments if the mistake is brought to its notice by the Commissioner of Cus-
toms or the other party to the appeal :
Provided that an amendment which has the effect of enhancing the as-
sessment or reducing a refund or otherwise increasing the liability of the other
party shall not be made under this sub-section, unless the Appellate Tribunal has
given notice to him of its intention to do so and has allowed him a reasonable
opportunity of being heard.
(2A) The Appellate Tribunal shall, where it is possible to do so, hear
and decide every appeal within a period of three years from the date on which
such appeal is filed :
Provided that where an order of stay is made in any proceedings relating
to an appeal filed under sub-section (1) of Section 129A, the Appellate Tribunal
shall dispose of the appeal within a period of one hundred and eighty days from
the date of such order.
Provided further that if such appeal is not disposed of within the period
specified in the first proviso, the stay order shall, on expiry of that period, stand
vacated.
(3) The Appellate Tribunal shall send a copy of every order passed un-
der this section to the Commissioner of Customs and the other party to the ap-
peal.
(4) Save as otherwise provided in Section 130 or Section 130E, orders
passed by the Appellate Tribunal on appeal shall be final.
Procedure of Appellate Tribunal - Section 129C
(1) The powers and functions of the Appellate Tribunal may be exer-
cised and discharged by Benches constituted by the President from amongst the
members thereof.
(2) Subject to the provisions contained in sub-section (4), a Bench shall
consist of one judicial member and one technical member.
(3) omitted
(4) The President or any other member of the Appellate Tribunal au-
thorized in this behalf by the President may, sitting singly, dispose of any case
which has been allotted to the Bench of which he is a member where -
(a) the value of the goods confiscated without option having been giv-
en to the owner of the goods to pay a fine in lieu of confiscation un-
der Section 125; or
(b) 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 in-
volved; or

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