2007 (1) TMI 458 - AT - Central Excise

Summary

Issues:
1. Whether the refund claim was rightly rejected as time-barred due to non-provisional assessments?

Analysis:
1. The appellants filed appeals against the rejection of their refund claim as time-barred. The Commissioner (Appeals) held that since the assessments were not provisional and no request was made by the appellants for provisional assessments, the refund claims on account of turnover discount were time-barred. The appellants argued that they had requested for provisional assessments in accordance with a Board Circular, but the Commissioner rejected their claims.

2. The Revenue contended that no request for provisional assessment was made by the appellants, and as the assessments were not provisional, the rejection of refund claims was justified.

3. A Board circular dated 30-6-2000 clarified the procedure for demanding assessments provisionally when the quantified discounts were not known at the time of clearance. The circular emphasized that discounts not readily known, such as year-end discounts, could be considered for provisional assessment upon the assessee's request. The appellants, in line with this circular, had requested provisional assessments in a letter dated 2-11-2002, which was acknowledged by the Commissioner in the impugned order.

4. As per the circular, when an assessee requests provisional assessments, the Revenue must either accept or reject the request. In this case, no order was passed on the request for provisional assessments. Therefore, the rejection of refund claims solely on the ground of non-provisional assessments was not justified. The appellants' claims should be considered by treating the assessments as provisional, in line with the circular, and the matter should be reviewed by the adjudicating authority on its merits.

5. Consequently, the impugned order was set aside, and the matter was remanded to the adjudicating authority for a fresh decision considering the appellants' claims with the assessments treated as provisional. The appeals were disposed of by way of remand on 18-1-2007.