2018 (2) TMI 68 - AT - Central Excise

Refund claim - Classification of goods - Sodium Alginate - whether classified under Chapter 13 or Chapter 39? -The technical objection is that instead of filing protest the appellants should have filed an appeal against the upholding of classification under Chapter 39 and the letter should have been addressed to the Asst. Commissioner instead of Superintendent - Held that - The said grounds are only hyper technical pleas which cannot be appreciated and adopted for grant of legitimate benefit of success of the classification dispute by the higher appellate forum. Admittedly, during the period, duty was being discharged by the assessees under Chapter 39 which has been held to be a wrong classification, subsequently on the litigation success between the assessee and the revenue and admittedly such payment of duties were under protest - denial of refund claims would be neither justified nor fair - appeal dismissed - decided against Revenue.

Summary

Issues: Classification dispute, refund of duty, protest by assessee, hyper technical objections

Classification Dispute:
The case involved a dispute regarding the correct classification of Sodium Alginate by the respondents. The Asst. Commissioner initially classified the goods under Chapter 39, but the Commissioner (Appeals) accepted the classification under Chapter 13 as contested by the assessee. The Revenue challenged the order before the Commissioner (Appeals) but did not pursue it further before the Tribunal, leading to the finality of the first appellate authority's decision.

Refund of Duty:
Subsequently, the assessee sought a refund of duty paid under Chapter 39. The original adjudicating authority granted the refund claims, considering the protest by the assessee and examining the unjust enrichment angle.

Protest by Assessee:
The appellate authority upheld the refund claims based on a letter from the appellant's Works Manager to the Superintendent of Central Excise, stating that duty was paid under protest as it was wrongly classified under Chapter 39 instead of Chapter 13. The authority noted that the duty was paid under protest and that the Revenue had not vacated the protest by any order, leading to the requirement of refunding the excise duty to the assessee.

Hyper Technical Objections:
The Revenue filed appeals challenging the refund orders, raising hyper technical objections regarding the procedure followed by the assessee in addressing the protest letter. The Tribunal dismissed the Revenue's appeals, emphasizing that the payment of duties was made under protest due to the classification dispute, and denying the refund claims would be unjustified and unfair. The Tribunal rejected the Revenue's appeals, highlighting that the technical objections were not substantial enough to deny the legitimate benefit of the classification dispute's success to the assessee.