Rebate claims: clerical error in ARE-1 was curable, but territorial jurisdiction remained essential for sanction.

A mistaken mention of the rebate sanctioning authority in ARE-1 forms was treated as a curable procedural defect where duty-paid export of goods was undisputed, so rebate for the consignments exported through JNPT remained admissible. By contrast, rebate for goods exported through New Customs House, Mumbai was not maintainable before the Raigad authority because its territorial jurisdiction did not extend to that port. The operative principle is that procedural errors do not defeat a substantive rebate claim, but rebate cannot be sanctioned by an authority lacking jurisdiction over the export location.

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Issues: (i) Whether rebate claims under the central excise rebate scheme could be rejected merely because the exporter mentioned the wrong rebate sanctioning authority in the ARE-1 forms when the export of duty-paid goods was otherwise undisputed; (ii) Whether the rebate claim relating to goods exported through New Customs House, Mumbai was maintainable before the Raigad jurisdictional authority.

Issue (i): Whether rebate claims under the central excise rebate scheme could be rejected merely because the exporter mentioned the wrong rebate sanctioning authority in the ARE-1 forms when the export of duty-paid goods was otherwise undisputed.

Analysis: The governing rebate procedure contemplated filing before the proper jurisdictional authority and requiring the exporter to indicate the intended office in the ARE-1. The record showed that, for five consignments exported through JNPT, the goods were in fact exported through the jurisdictional port and the only defect was incorrect mention of the rebate sanctioning authority. The decision treated this as a clerical and procedural mistake, not a failure of the substantive rebate conditions. Since duty-paid export of the goods was not in dispute and the Department did not dispute admissibility on merits, the wrong description of the authority was held to be a curable lapse.

Conclusion: The rebate claims for the five consignments exported through JNPT were held admissible and the allowance of those claims was affirmed in favour of the assessee.

Issue (ii): Whether the rebate claim relating to goods exported through New Customs House, Mumbai was maintainable before the Raigad jurisdictional authority.

Analysis: The jurisdiction of the Maritime Commissioner for rebate sanction was linked to exports made through the port within the concerned commissionerate. For the consignment exported from New Customs House, Mumbai, the Raigad authority had no jurisdiction because its rebate jurisdiction extended only to exports through JNPT/ Nhava Sheva and the corresponding area. The exporter had been alerted to the defect but did not withdraw and refile before the proper authority.

Conclusion: The rebate claim for the consignment exported from New Customs House, Mumbai was held not admissible and was rightly rejected for want of jurisdiction.

Final Conclusion: The revision succeeded only to the limited extent of denying rebate on the consignment exported from New Customs House, Mumbai, while the remaining rebate claims were sustained.

Ratio Decidendi: A mistaken mention of the rebate sanctioning authority in ARE-1 is a curable procedural defect where the export of duty-paid goods is undisputed, but rebate cannot be sanctioned by an authority lacking territorial jurisdiction over the export port.

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