Refund for double duty on returned and repacked goods was upheld despite no fresh manufacturing process.

Duty paid on goods cleared from a factory and later returned for repacking was held refundable under Rule 173L where the same goods had in fact suffered duty twice. The Tribunal accepted that double payment on the identical goods justified refund, following its earlier decisions, and rejected the view that refund could be denied merely because no fresh manufacturing process had taken place on return. The refund claim was therefore held maintainable, the impugned order was set aside, and the assessee succeeded.

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Issues: Whether duty originally paid on goods cleared from the factory and later returned for repacking was refundable under Rule 173L of the Central Excise Rules, 1944.

Analysis: The goods had already suffered duty on first clearance and were again cleared after return and repacking on payment of duty. The Tribunal held that, on the facts, the same goods had been subjected to duty twice. Following its earlier decisions, it accepted that such double payment of duty justified refund under Rule 173L. The rejection of the refund claim on the footing that no manufacturing process had taken place on return was not accepted.

Conclusion: The refund claim was held to be maintainable and the assessee succeeded.

Final Conclusion: The impugned order was set aside and the appeal was allowed in favour of the assessee.

Ratio Decidendi: Where duty has been paid twice on the same goods, refund cannot be denied merely because the returned goods were repacked rather than subjected to a fresh manufacturing process.

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