Refund limitation under Central Excise law runs from duty payment date, not later destruction of goods.

For refund claims under Section 11B of the Central Excise Act, 1944, limitation runs from the date of payment of duty unless the payment was made under protest. On that basis, a claim filed more than one year after duty payment was time-barred, and the later destruction of the goods did not shift the relevant date for limitation. The refund was therefore correctly rejected.

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Issues: Whether the refund claim was barred by limitation under Section 11B of the Central Excise Act, 1944, and whether the relevant date for computing limitation was the date of payment of duty or the date of destruction of the molasses.

Analysis: The duty had been paid in May and June 1996 without protest, and the refund claim was filed on 31-1-2001, well beyond the prescribed one-year period. For a refund claim under Section 11B of the Central Excise Act, 1944, the relevant date for limitation was the date of payment of duty, not the later date of destruction of the goods.

Conclusion: The refund claim was time-barred and was rightly rejected.

Final Conclusion: The appeal failed and the order rejecting the refund claim was sustained.

Ratio Decidendi: In a refund claim under Section 11B of the Central Excise Act, 1944, limitation runs from the date of payment of duty unless the payment was made under protest.

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