Drawback claim timing requirement could not be waived by a subordinate authority; non-compliance justified rejection.

Relaxation of the requirement to claim drawback at the time of export under rule 11(c)(iii) was reserved to the Central Government under rule 15 in special circumstances where non-compliance occurred for reasons beyond the exporter's control. A subordinate appellate authority had no delegated power to grant that relaxation, and any attempt to do so would be without jurisdiction. Because the drawback claim was not made at the time of export, the statutory condition remained unsatisfied and the claim was properly rejected.

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Issues: Whether the requirement of claiming drawback at the time of export under rule 11(c)(iii) of the Customs and Central Excise (Duty Drawback) Rules, 1971 could be waived by the Appellate Collector, and whether the drawback claim was liable to be rejected for non-compliance.

Analysis: The Tribunal noted that rule 15 reserved the power of relaxation to the Central Government in special circumstances where the exporter, for reasons beyond control, failed to comply with the rules and was otherwise not entitled to drawback. The power was not shown to have been delegated to a subordinate authority. The Tribunal held that such relaxation could not be exercised by the Appellate Collector and that any purported exercise of that power by a subordinate authority would be without jurisdiction. As the drawback claim had not been made at the time of export, the statutory condition was not satisfied.

Conclusion: The waiver of rule 11(c)(iii) could not be granted by the Appellate Collector, and the rejection of the drawback claim was upheld.

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