Contemporaneous ARE-1 declaration required for deemed credit refund; later letter cannot cure absence of drawback non-claim endorsement.

Refund of unutilized deemed credit under Notification No. 6/2002 required contemporaneous evidence that drawback under the Customs and Central Excise Duties (Drawback) Rules, 1995 was not being claimed on the exported goods. The ARE-1 endorsement at the time of clearance was the prescribed declaration for verification, and a later letter could not cure its absence. As the claimant bore the burden of proving eligibility and the declaration was missing when the export was made through merchant exporters, the refund was treated as inadmissible and rejection was upheld.

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Issues: Whether refund of unutilized deemed credit was admissible when the ARE-1 form did not contain an endorsement that drawback under the Customs and Central Excise Duties (Drawback) Rules, 1995 was not being claimed and the declaration was furnished only later by letter.

Analysis: Refund of declared duty credit under Notification No. 6/2002 dated 01.03.2002, issued under Rule 11 of the CENVAT Credit Rules, 2002, depended upon the Department being satisfied that drawback was not being claimed in respect of the export goods. The ARE-1 declaration was required at the time of clearance, and the endorsement in the prescribed form enabled verification of the factual position. Where the export was through merchant exporters and the relevant declaration was not made on the ARE-1 at the material time, a later letter could not cure the defect. The claimant carried the burden of establishing eligibility, and the absence of the contemporaneous endorsement justified rejection of the refund.

Conclusion: The refund claim was not admissible and its rejection was upheld in favour of the Revenue.

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