2013 (4) TMI 535 - AT - Central Excise

Relevant date applicable to the refund claim - Held that - It is a settled law that once an issue is being agitated by an assessee before the Appellate Channels, it has to be considered that any payments made by the assessee during contesting the case is deemed to be paid under protest. The amended provision with respect to the relevant date also came into operation with effect from 11/12/2007 whereas the refund claim was filed by the appellant on 28/12/2007. However, by virtue of duty paid deemed to be under protest, time bar as prescribed under Section 11B of the Central Excise Act, 1944 will not be applicable to the present case. Accordingly appeal filed by the appellant is allowed with consequential relief.

Summary

Issues:
Whether the refund claim filed by the appellant is time-barred under Sec.11B of the Central Excise Act, 1944 or not.

Analysis:

1. The appellant filed an appeal against the rejection of a refund of Rs.17,718. The main issue was whether the refund claim was time-barred under Sec.11B of the Central Excise Act, 1944. The appellant argued that the payment made should be considered as paid under protest since the admissibility of cenvat credit was being contested before the appellate authority. The appellant relied on various judgments to support their argument.

2. The appellant's counsel pointed out that Clause B(ec) of the explanation under Section 11B was introduced after the appellant filed the refund claim. Therefore, the amended provision should not be applicable to their case.

3. On the other hand, the respondent argued that the refund claim was indeed time-barred and was correctly held so by the Commissioner (A).

4. The judge noted that the crucial issue to be decided was whether the relevant date under Clause (ec) of the explanation of the Central Excise Act applied to the appellant's refund claim. It was established that when an issue is contested by an assessee before the Appellate Channels, any payments made during the case are deemed to be paid under protest. Considering this settled law, the payment made by the appellant was deemed to be under protest. The judge highlighted that the amended provision regarding the relevant date came into effect after the appellant filed the refund claim. Due to the duty paid being considered under protest, the time bar under Section 11B of the Central Excise Act did not apply to this case. The judge allowed the appeal filed by the appellant with consequential relief.

This detailed analysis of the judgment provides a comprehensive understanding of the legal issues involved and the reasoning behind the decision.