Refund of education cess and higher education cess denied where the later exemption notification matched an earlier one already read to exclude such refund.

Refund of education cess and higher education cess paid with excise duty under Notification No. 20/2007-C.E. was held not admissible because that notification was pari materia to Notification No. 56/2002, under which a prior Division Bench had already denied such refund. Applying the binding earlier view, CESTAT Kolkata found no merit in the claim for refund of the cess amounts and rejected the appeals. The operative principle stated was that where a later exemption notification is pari materia to an earlier notification already interpreted to exclude refund of education cess and higher education cess, the same exclusion applies to claims under the later notification.

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Issues: Whether education cess and higher education cess paid along with excise duty under Notification No. 20/2007-C.E. dated 25-4-2007 were refundable along with the excise duty.

Analysis: The Tribunal noted that Notification No. 20/2007-C.E. dated 25-4-2007 was pari materia to Notification No. 56/2002 dated 14-11-2002. A prior Division Bench decision had already held that refund of education cess and higher education cess under Notification No. 56/2002 was not admissible. Following that binding view, the Tribunal found no merit in the claim for refund of the cess amounts.

Conclusion: The refund of education cess and higher education cess was held not admissible, and the appeals failed.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the exemption notification is pari materia to an earlier notification under which refund of education cess and higher education cess has been held inadmissible, the same non-admissibility applies to refund claims under the later notification.

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