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2019 (2) TMI 561 - AT - Central ExciseMaintainability of appeal - Refund claim - time barred - Whether without filing the appeal against the orders of sanctioning the refund claim into Cenvat credit account, the appeal is maintainable before this Tribunal or not? - Held that - In this case due to introduction of Central Goods Service Tax Act, 2017, the appellant is entitled to claim the refund in cash and the appellant after giving refund claim into Cenvat credit account, approached to the adjudicating authority for modification of the order. When the appellant has approached the adjudicating authority for modification, it means that the appellant has not agreed with the adjudication order and when request for modification in adjudication order has been entertained and rejected and the same has been appealed against, in that circumstance, it is concluded that the appellant has challenged the adjudication order of refund claim - the appeal filed before the Ld. Commissioner (Appeals) is maintainable. Whether the appeal filed by the appellant before the Ld. Commissioner (Appeals) against the order of rejection of their request dt. 28.03.2018 is barred by limitation or not? - Held that - Against the adjudication order, the appellant approached to the adjudicating authority for the modification of the same. Therefore, the time consumed by the adjudicating authority is required to be deducted from the time of filing the appeal before the Commissioner (Appeals). If same is deducted, then the appeal filed before the Commissioner (Appeals) is within time - the appeal filed by the appellant before Ld. Commissioner (Appeals) is within time. Refund allowed - appeal allowed - decided in favor of appellant.
Issues:
(A) Whether without filing the appeal against the orders of sanctioning the refund claim into Cenvat credit account, the appeal is maintainable before this Tribunal or not? (B) Whether the appeal filed by the appellant before the Ld. Commissioner (Appeals) against the order of rejection of their request dt. 28.03.2018 is barred by limitation or not? Analysis: Issue No. (i) - Appeal Maintainability without Challenging Refund Claim Orders: The appellant sought a refund in cash for goods exported, as per Section 142(3) of the Central Goods & Service Tax Act, 2017. The appellant initially filed rebate claims, some of which were sanctioned in cash and some in Cenvat credit account. The appellant requested modification of the order to claim the refund in cash. The Ld. Commissioner (Appeals) held that since the appellant did not challenge the order of sanctioning the refund claim, the appeal was not maintainable. However, the Tribunal found that by requesting modification, the appellant effectively challenged the adjudication order. Therefore, the appeal before the Ld. Commissioner (Appeals) was deemed maintainable. Issue No. (ii) - Limitation of Appeal Filed Before Ld. Commissioner (Appeals): The appeal filed by the appellant against the rejection of their request on 28.03.2018 was contested on the grounds of limitation. The Ld. Commissioner (Appeals) held that the appeal was time-barred as the appellant did not approach within the stipulated time. However, the Tribunal considered that the time consumed by the adjudicating authority in reviewing the modification request should be deducted from the appeal filing time. Upon deduction, the appeal before the Ld. Commissioner (Appeals) was found to be within the permissible time limit. Merits of the Case: The Tribunal noted that as per Section 142(3) of the Central Goods & Service Tax Act, 2017, all refund claims were to be sanctioned in cash. The adjudication order, which allowed the refund claim into the Cenvat credit account, was deemed to violate the statutory provision. Consequently, the impugned order was set aside, and the appellant was held entitled to the refund claim in cash. The appeal was allowed with any consequential relief. In conclusion, the Tribunal upheld the appellant's right to claim the refund in cash, as per the relevant provisions of the Central Goods & Service Tax Act, 2017, and granted the appeal with appropriate relief.
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