2007 (6) TMI 378 - AT - Central Excise

Summary

Issues involved: Entitlement to cash refund of Additional Excise Duty paid due to finalization of provisional assessment.

Summary:
The Appellate Tribunal CESTAT, Mumbai, addressed the issue of whether the appellants were entitled to a cash refund of Rs. 1,76,971/- as Additional Excise Duty paid following the finalization of provisional assessment by Deputy Commissioner's order dated 5-4-2005 for the period April 2002 to September 2003. The Tribunal referred to a previous decision in the case of STL Products (P) Ltd. v. Commissioner of Central Excise, Bangalore, 2006 (198) E.L.T. 521, which established that a cash refund should be granted when the assessee is unable to utilize the refund in the credit account. In this case, the levy of additional duty under the Additional Duties of Excise (Textile and Textile Articles) Act was abolished, and the goods were exempt from such excise duty from 9-7-2004. Despite the appellants being entitled to take credit by an order dated 5-4-2005, it could not be implemented as the levy of additional duty on textile and textile articles had already been abolished from July 2004. Following the precedent set by the Tribunal's previous decision and considering that the issue of provisional assessment was not addressed by the Larger Bench in the case of Gauri Plasticulture (P) Ltd. v. Commissioner of Central Excise, Indore, 2006 (202) E.L.T. 199, which also allowed cash refund if the assessee could not utilize the credit, the impugned order was set aside, and the appeal was allowed.