Refund of unutilised Modvat credit allowed where exports predated the enabling rule, despite later filing of the claim.

Refund of unutilised Modvat credit remained admissible where the exports were completed before insertion of Rule 57F(17), even though the refund claim was filed only after the notification date. The Tribunal followed the Supreme Court's binding ruling on the same question and held that the timing of the export, not the later filing of the claim, governed entitlement. It also noted that a prior remand in the assessee's own matter did not permit departure from that precedent. The rejection of the refund claim was set aside and consequential relief followed.

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Issues: Whether refund of unutilised Modvat credit was admissible where the exports were made before insertion of Rule 57F(17) by Notification No. 6/97-C.E. (N.T.), but the refund claim was filed after the notification date.

Analysis: The claim arose from exports made before 1-3-1997, while the refund application was lodged thereafter. The authorities rejected the claim on the ground of post-notification filing. The Tribunal applied the Supreme Court's ruling on the same question, which held that the refund was available to the assessee when the export had taken place before the notification, even if the claim itself was filed later. The appellate authority was bound to follow that binding precedent and could not ignore it merely because an earlier view had been taken in the assessee's own matter and the matter had then been remanded.

Conclusion: The refund claim was admissible and the rejection order could not stand.

Final Conclusion: The assessee succeeded in establishing entitlement to refund of the unutilised credit, and the appeal was allowed with consequential relief.

Ratio Decidendi: Where exports precede the insertion of the refund-enabling provision, the refund remains admissible even if the claim is filed after the notification date.

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