2018 (8) TMI 636 - AT - Customs

SAD Refund - whether the appellant have committed any illegality in filing the two claims for refund of SAD under Notification No.102/07/CUS, with respect to two separate Bills of Entry, within the same calendar month? - Held that - The restriction is with respect to a particular Bill of Entry, and there is no restriction for the assessee to file separate refund claims in a particular month with respect to different Bills of Entry - the refund claim has to be processed with respect to a particular Bill of Entry, and the goods sold by their subsequent sale and sales tax having been paid. Therefore, there is no illegality and or violation or procedural infirmity in making two refund claims in respect of two different Bills of Entry. Refund granted - appeal allowed - decided in favor of appellant.

Summary

Issues involved:
Whether filing two refund claims for SAD under Notification No.102/07/CUS, with respect to two separate Bills of Entry, within the same calendar month constitutes an illegality.

Analysis:
The appellant filed two refund claims for additional duty of customs paid under Section 3(5) of the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 for subsequent sales in India. One claim was for ?52,95,352 and the other for ?6,82,852 in October 2013. The refund granting authority rejected the second claim, stating that as per relevant notifications and circulars, an importer can file only one refund claim in a month for refund of SAD. The rejection was upheld by the Commissioner (Appeal).

The appellant argued that the circular No. 6/2008/CUS was misinterpreted, citing that it allows for filing a single claim against a particular Bill of Entry within a year and consolidating cases where goods are sold within a month into a single refund claim. The appellant also referred to a Tribunal ruling in a similar case where it was held that administrative instructions or circulars are binding on departmental officers but cannot go beyond statutory provisions.

The Tribunal, after considering the arguments, found that there is no restriction for an assessee to file separate refund claims in a particular month with respect to different Bills of Entry. It clarified that the restriction is specific to a particular Bill of Entry, and there is no prohibition on filing multiple refund claims for different Bills of Entry in the same month. The Tribunal directed the Adjudicating Authority to grant the refund for the second claim of ?6,82,852 filed in October 2013, within 60 days with interest as per rules, stating that there was no illegality or procedural infirmity in making two refund claims for different Bills of Entry in the same month.