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Issues involved: Refund claim rejection on the ground of unjust enrichment, sufficiency of Chartered Accountant's certificate as evidence.
Refund claim rejection on the ground of unjust enrichment: The appeal arose from the rejection of a refund claim by the Commissioner (A), Bangalore, based on the ground that the duty had not been passed on to the customers, thus invoking the doctrine of unjust enrichment. The appellants presented a Chartered Accountant's certificate verifying that excess duty paid had not been transferred to the customers through pre-and post-sale invoices. However, the Commissioner (A) deemed this evidence insufficient for acceptance. Sufficiency of Chartered Accountant's certificate as evidence: The appellant's counsel cited precedents where Chartered Accountant's certification regarding non-passing of duty to customers was deemed acceptable by the Tribunal. The JDR for the respondent argued that mere production of the certificate was insufficient without additional evidence, emphasizing that uniformity in prices was not the sole criterion. Reference was made to a Larger Bench judgment regarding the need for further proof beyond price uniformity. Upon careful consideration, the Tribunal found that the Chartered Accountant's certificate provided by the appellants adequately demonstrated that the duty burden had not been shifted to the consumers. Consequently, the Tribunal held that the appellants' evidence met the criteria established by the Larger Bench, and the Commissioner (A) was unjustified in rejecting it. The appeal was allowed, granting the appellants the refund of excess duty paid. *(Pronounced and dictated in open Court)*
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