2015 (10) TMI 425 - SCH - Central Excise

Refund claim - Unjust enrichment - price inclusive of duty of excise - maintaining uniformity of price - duty paid under protest - Supreme Court after condoning the delay dismissed the appeal filed by the Revenue filed against the decision of High court 2014 (6) TMI 308 - GUJARAT HIGH COURT ; wherein High Court held that admittedly, till January 2001, the assessee was paying excise duty at a lower rate. For the months of January and February 2001, the assessee was forced to clear the goods under heading 2404.90 at a higher rate. This was done under protest. The assessee also established that the sale price of the goods, despite this change in the duty rate that the assessee charged from the consumers, remained the same. This aspect has been gone into by the Tribunal at a considerable length. In the impugned judgment, the Tribunal compared the different invoices for the period between January-February 2001 and immediately before that. The Tribunal found that despite assessee paying considerably higher rate of excise duty and correspondingly higher duties of special excise and additional excise duties, the price inclusive of taxes remained the same. Hence no infirmity in order of Tribunal.

Summary

The Supreme Court in the case with citation 2015 (10) TMI 425 - SC, with judges H.L. Dattu and A.K. Sikri, JJ., condoned the delay and dismissed the case.