I had a form without this "name" parametar, and without that parametar there is just no file object in validate function for file upload
$form['image']['file']= array(
'#name' => 'files[advert]',
'#type' => 'file',
'#title' => ''.t('Add New Image').'
',
'#description' => t('Upload a file, allowed extensions: jpg, jpeg, png, gif'),
);
and then you can get it in validate function like below with 'advert'
function item_validate($form, &$form_state)
{
if ($form_state['input']['image']['select_tags'] == 2) {
$file = file_save_upload('advert', array(
'file_validate_is_image' => array(), // Validates file is really an image.
'file_validate_extensions' => array('png gif jpg jpeg'), // Validate extensions.
));