2010 (3) TMI 965 - AT - Central Excise

Summary

Issues involved: Refund claims rejection u/s non-production of original documents, unjust enrichment bar not addressed properly.

The appeal involved three refund claims filed by the appellant, dated 17-7-1996 for Rs. 4,71,355/-, 30-9-1996 for Rs. 2,46,936/-, and 24-10-1996 for Rs. 4,52,160/-. The original authority rejected all three claims due to non-production of original documents. The Commissioner (Appeals) upheld the rejection stating that the party failed to produce the required documents and did not provide evidence against unjust enrichment, leading to the rejection of all refund claims.

The appellant's consultant argued that the documents requested were either irrelevant to the claims or not in possession of the claimant. It was noted that the original authority rejected all claims based on non-production of original documents, even though the show-cause notice only mentioned unjust enrichment as the reason for rejecting the claim of Rs. 4,52,160/-. The appellant had submitted xerox copies of documents with an undertaking to produce originals when necessary, but failed to do so before any authority. The claims of 17-7-1996 and 30-9-1996 were rightly rejected for non-production of original documents, while the claim of 24-10-1996, amounting to Rs. 4,52,160/-, required a fresh adjudication specifically addressing the unjust enrichment aspect as per the show-cause notice.

The appeal was dismissed concerning the refund claims of 17-7-1996 and 30-9-1996 due to non-production of original documents. However, it was allowed for the remaining refund claim of 24-10-1996, which needed to be reconsidered by the original authority in light of the unjust enrichment issue, providing the party with a fair opportunity to present evidence and be heard.